Sailor Oshimuke:  The Spiritual Sailor
by The Universal Storyteller
Summary: Three more Scout battles and two more Sailor Scouts, among various other things.  Much more now present inside, of course.
1. Prologue:  Dreams' End, Silence's Start

This story and its related series are perhaps going to be at least a bit darker and at least a bit more mature than my various other Sailor Moon-related stories from other series of mine. At least in terms of their basic content, I think. But they still won't be too adult for most people here on fanfiction dot net, maybe. At least in terms of how they might often think of most stories like this one or any related ones to it, that is. Perhaps most people might consider various other stories enough like this one and sufficiently-related ones to be, at the very most, roughly T-ish in nature, at least in terms of their basic content, if not in any other ways as well. But I'm still going to be rating it, or them, at least a little bit, if not a lot, higher than that, just to be sufficiently safe here, people. Better for me to be rating something too high than to be rating it too low, of course.

Don't expect any or all of the known SM canon characters to be in this particular story and/or series after the soon-to-follow Prologue, people. Or at least not for quite some time, if at all. This story and/or series will certainly not involve them in it for quite some time, if at all, for reasons that'll become quite evident in due time, by the way. So there'll be absolutely no sense in asking for a Serena/Darien (Usagi/Mamoru or Serenity/Endymion) pairing in it, at least. Among many other pairings that won't actually be present either in it. This story and its related series may vary quite considerably indeed from at least one, if not more than one, version of Sailor Moon's canon, for that matter. Or it may not. That still remains to be seen here, of course.

With all that said, then, I'll close this fairly brief opening, and get on with this particular story's Prologue, people. Then all the other chapters of it and/or its related series will be posted, in their respective turns, just as soon as I possibly can post them each up on fanfiction dot net, for all the obvious reasons.

* * *

Prologue: End of Dreams, Beginning of Silence

It was the end of dreams, and the beginning of silence, when my longed-for hopes of great peace were shattered that last day and night on Earth's Moon. And at that particular time, I and many other people like me were then all at least a few million light-years away from my society's home planet in another Galaxy of the Universe. We were, most specifically, from somewhere in the Andromeda Galaxy of it. I and several of my society's people had all come there sometime earlier on a planned diplomatic-style mission from our own solar system to the Milky Way Galaxy's Sol System, while we were all still not expecting any trouble of any kind or kinds at all from anyone or anything that came from somewhere else in the Universe. We had all come there together just a little while before that time, at most, fully expecting great peace and brand-new diplomatic ties with that same solar system's own Moon Kingdom. But it was just not to be, in fact, as an extremely evil force then invaded the entire Moon, with very little or no prior warning, as far as we all then knew. And it literally destroyed its still-habitable surface in whatever ways it then could do just that somehow. Many of us eventually were quite unexpectedly caught up in the rather great turmoil that last day and night of the Moon Kingdom's known history up to that particular time in the Universe. And we soon were periodically forced to fight against monsters from that evil force in attempts to protect ourselves from them somehow. We didn't actually expect it to happen exactly as it did, and neither did our hosts in the Moon Kingdom. But the sheer numbers of those various beings that then invaded the Moon Kingdom was much more than either we or the countless people of the Moon Kingdom had actually expected there to be. They had expected quite severe trouble from those very same beings, unlike us. But not quite as much trouble as we and they all then found ourselves dealing with that last day and night of the Moon Kingdom, for that matter.

When they eventually attacked that last day and night, it was during a grand ball. Many of our Moon Kingdom hosts were quite soon afterward called away to fight, but their mortal enemy was just too strong for them, in many ways, by the way. They each gave their attempts at fighting their all, in whatever ways they then could, and many fell, before we ourselves found us quite unexpectedly fighting their mortal enemy as well. I and many of my friends also fought, quite reluctantly, after first transforming ourselves into Warriors of a sort similar to many of our hosts. But we also actually failed to somehow defend ourselves quite well enough to then survive against those same monsters. I reluctantly watched all my friends fall, one or more at a time, often, before I also found myself soon quite overwhelmed by many of them beyond any defensible enough state of being. Many monsters soon proved sufficiently resistant to any attempts I made to defend myself or the very last surviving members of my current traveling party. I eventually fell rather near the Moon Kingdom's own Queen, just as a red-headed, and purple-dressed, evil witch of some yet-unknown sort to us all quite suddenly blasted her eldest daughter and that daughter's beloved older boyfriend. Perhaps ten or so seconds after that, at the very most, then, I most definitely knew no more at the present time, at least. For I was no longer sufficiently conscious of anything or anyone at all on or around the Moon Kingdom's Imperial Palace, by the way. For all obvious enough appearances, I was now quite deceased, at least as far as most people might then be able to tell well enough. But the actual truth of things was quite otherwise, as I'd find out many long years afterward. And only once the Moon Kingdom's own enemy finally awakened from a long period of unplanned imprisonment caused by the Moon Kingdom's Queen in a manner we didn't know of at that time, but would eventually learn of later, as enough time came to pass for us and many others elsewhere in the Universe.

It would take more than a millennium for us to learn of that manner, if we ever did. But until then, at least, a great silence would generally reign for many sentients of assorted kinds, wherever possible, anywhere else in the Universe. Even for me and the rest of my earlier traveling party, in fact.

So ended my rather brief time on Earth's Moon, much to my regret, and to the regrets of many others, in a rather sudden disaster of Universe-shaking proportions. And so ended any chance that I would see home again for a very long time, if ever, as well, for that matter.

* * *

So ends this story's Prologue. The first real chapter of this particular story should follow in very short order, I think. I'll await your opinions about this story here, in the meantime, of course, people. The Universal Storyteller out. 


	2. Chapter One:  A Warrior's Awakening

Here's Chapter One. I hope you think it worth your time, of course. Enough said.

* * *

Chapter One: A Warrior's Awakening

My name is Chelsea Hunter, and I have AIDS, through no fault of my own. I have had it my whole life, no thanks to my parents, especially to my father. I am the second of eight children, and I am the only one of four of us to actually have it from birth. Three of my siblings also have AIDS, but not for the exact same reason that I do. I was infected with AIDS when I was born, while then being born in the usual manner. I am also a quadruplet, and my brothers in our mutual birth grouping got it later through contaminated blood transfusions. My now-infected sister in that group of ours got it later due to suddenly stumbling upon a contaminated syringe previously used several times for drug-related purposes when we were all still quite young. Our four younger siblings are not infected, somehow, but everyone else in my immediate family is.

Our father unknowingly infected our mother, and eventually me, through her, when I was later born in the usual manner. Four of us were conceived out-of-wedlock, including me, but we all were born in-wedlock, after our parents married several months later. All of our younger siblings, however, were both conceived and born in-wedlock.

Fortunately for Clarence, Sable, Woodrow, and Odemyla, they all have never yet been infected with AIDS. And we are all hoping that they never will be, either, by the way. However, the rest of us are likely doomed to spend the rest of our respective mortal lives with AIDS.

The other three siblings of mine who have AIDS are named, from oldest to youngest, Joseph, Franklin, and Gabrielle. Our parents are Eric and Martina Hunter. I am between Joseph and Franklin, in our family's birth order, for that matter. We four quadruplets are now 14 years old, at least as of June 3, 1993. It is now Tuesday, January 1, 2008, for every single member of our family. I shall now tell you of my first three months as a Sailor Scout in the modern day, everyone.

* * *

Exactly three months ago, my life changed, right after school, when I was heading home from it. It was just after 3:30 or so in the afternoon, in the Tokyo local area of Japan, on October 1, 2007. I had only just left Juuban Junior High for the rest of the day when a mostly black horse with white streaks on his sides suddenly came and found me walking on a sidewalk near it. I was then completely alone, in fact. He suddenly came up behind me, from some yet-unknown direction, and knocked me at least twenty feet, if not more, into the air somewhat briefly as he then did so. And when I soon came down, and landed quite squarely on his back, he suddenly set off for somewhere else in the local area that I'd never been in before. 

He eventually took me to a city park a few miles away, which was still quite deserted at that time, and then he spoke to me the very first time in this time period. He said, "Your help is required, Chelsea Hunter, to fight evil that has now begun to awaken from a long period of dormancy."

Of course, I wondered who he was, and how he could talk, and asked, "Who are you, how do you know my name, and what are you talking about?"

"My name is Hatargo, I have been looking for you for a very long time, simply because of a dream, and I have learned that a great evil has started to awaken from a long undesired state of slumber."

"What can I do? I am a simple human, not a warrior." I was then about 5'2" and about 115 pounds, with auburn hair that fell roughly to my shoulders at that time, and brown eyes like two Reese's Pieces cups, both in the color and in the approximate size of them, more or less. At that time, I was still wearing my school uniform, which basically consisted of a mostly white blouse, a mostly navy blue sailor collar, a red front bow, a matching skirt, a pair of white socks, and a pair of buckled shoes that were standard issue for most girls at my Junior High School. I was also Caucasian, for that matter. A rather plain digital watch was then on my left wrist, as well.

"I have sensed great power from you just recently, Chelsea. It will make you a warrior that can fight this evil, if you choose to fight it. If you don't, then many innocents will most likely die, because of it."

"I don't understand."

"You will, in time, God willing. Do you have a brooch or anything jeweled with you right now, by any chance at all?"

"No, I don't."

"Then I'll just have to get you something that you can use to make yourself a warrior."

"I don't want to be a warrior."

"Maybe so, Chelsea, but you will have to be one, just the same, most likely."

Hatargo then suddenly raised up his left front hoof, and brought it up to about the level of his left eye, as if he was scratching his head. Ten seconds later, I asked, "What are you thinking?"

"I am thinking about what kind of transformation device might be best for you at this time."

Just then, I suddenly heard several nearby screams. Not from within that park, but not too far from it either, for that matter. "What's going on?"  
"They're now starting to drain people of their energy, it seems, Chelsea. You're the only one who can possibly help them that I've been able to find so far."

"Why me?"

"I don't yet know why. I just know that you're the only one who can possibly help them that I've been able to find so far. Will you help them, or perhaps let them die?"

"No, I don't suppose I can let them die, horse. What do I have to do?"

"You will have to fight the evil. Will you do it, even though you might wish you didn't have to?"

I thought about it for a few more seconds, before I heard several people's mostly-drained bodies hit the ground about a quarter-mile or so away from the park. I finally said, with considerable reluctance, but also with at least some realization of what might happen if I did nothing, "Fine. I will help them. But I will want answers from you about this, and perhaps many other things, in due time, horse, if and whenever possible."

"Understood, Chelsea. And my name, just so you can remember it better here, hopefully, is Hatargo."

He looked me up and down a bit, and then suddenly said, "I have just the thing for you in mind to use in order to transform into a warrior of some sort, Chelsea." He then ran around a nearby statue of a princess in the park we were now in together a few times. As he did so, a saddle unexpectedly materialized on his back, and so did a pair of saddle bags. He said, a few rather brief moments later, "Look in the saddle bags, and tell me what you find, please, Chelsea."

I did so, still not happy about him meeting me and whisking me away to the park like he had, of course. I soon found a necklace with a pendant at its base, and a miniature sword in a small scabbard of some sort on a belt-like chain. I looked at all of those things, and said, a few more brief moments later, "I can't fight with a miniature sword, Hatargo."

"I know that, but it and the scabbard will grow, once the sword is out of your scabbard. And once you're transformed, for that matter."

"And just how am I supposed to transform?"

"Put the necklace on, and loop the sword and scabbard's chain around your waist. Then find a safe enough place to hide briefly, before you shout out, 'Oshimuke Testament Power!' as you hold the pendant in one hand. That will begin the required transformation process. When you are transformed, start heading for where we know the sounds are coming from. And don't waste any unnecessary time in doing that, please, for the obvious reasons, Chelsea."

He then set off for that place, and I quickly found a safe enough place to hide briefly in. After I put on my new necklace and the chain that he'd given me, just as he'd asked me to do so here, I rather quickly dropped my school bag behind a garbage can in a still-nearby deserted alley, before briefly looking around it to make sure that I couldn't be seen, heard, or detected well enough for a while. With all those things then done as needed here, I shouted out the necessary three words, just before I was suddenly shrouded in a pillar of purple, silver, and orange light. Only my outermost clothes changed here, in fact, and I rather quickly found myself in a new fighting uniform that I'd never actually been in before.

This fighting uniform's parts, from top to bottom, started with a gold V-shaped tiara with a pearl at its base. A pair of clip-on scroll-like earrings hung from my attached earlobes. A mostly purple choker with four silver five-pointed stars and four orange flame bursts on it was around my neck about halfway between my chin and my shoulders. A mostly purple sailor collar with two silver lines all the way around it and two orange flame bursts just inside those two lines was on my shoulders and on the uppermost part of my back. The necklace with attached pendant that I'd just received from Hatargo now hung from my neck near it. A mostly purple and medium-sized front bow with orange and silver trim was on the front of a mostly silver blouse with similar purple piping on its hem and cuffs and slightly-puffed silver shoulders. I had a matching back bow in the small of my back that was the same size as the front one was. The chain that I'd looped around my waist became a belt of sorts, and my sword and its scabbard hung from my left hip, just outside a roughly knee-length pleated skirt that was purple in color, except for a single somewhat narrow silver stripe near the hem. A pair of mostly purple boots that were nearly knee-length finished out my new fighting uniform here, but not without them both also being decorated with several symbols that were almost exactly like the ones present on my new choker.

After I realized I'd actually finished transforming well enough, I then set off right after Hatargo here, of course. I didn't know exactly what I'd find when I finally got to where the many people's screams were still coming from at the present time. But I still hoped that I wouldn't be too late to help anyone or anything that needed it, just the same.

I arrived at that place roughly forty seconds after I realized that I'd actually finished transforming well enough here. And when I did, I saw a big ugly thing in the process of trying to drain someone else of their energy like it had already done to several other people near the park at that time. It looked like a weird and rather large fusion of a bat, a snake, and a humanoid being of some yet-unknown sort to me or to Hatargo, at least as far as we then knew in our respective lives.

I suddenly shouted, "Hey, big ugly thing, stop picking on those innocent people, and pick on someone of your own kind of being, whatever they may be!"

The big ugly thing turned to face me, and then seemed to think momentarily, as if trying to understand me well enough, before she asked me, in my native language of American English, no less, "Who are you, and what business do you have with interrupting my quest to gain energy for the Negaverse and its Queen Beryl?"

"I am Sailor Oshimuke, the Sailor of Redemption. Leave now, and I will not have to execute judgement on you, through the Sword of the Spirit! Fail to do so, and you will be judged accordingly!"

She stopped draining her latest planned victim, and four swords of fire suddenly materialized in four hands at the end of as many arms on her person. She quickly grew to twice her previous height, twice her previous width, and twice her previous thickness, before beginning to head toward me here. I soon found myself engaging her in battle, while also periodically reciting many Bible verses that came into my head as I did so. At least some of those verses were more effective against her than various others were, while several others had little or no effect on her during the battle. I was moderately effective with my sword, at the present time, for I wasn't very experienced yet with those kinds of weapons in my life, if I'd ever be. But I was much more effective when reciting those Bible verses while fighting her here. It eventually turned out that she was at least part-demon, from what Hatargo found out later, after the battle. Which helped me quite considerably, though I didn't yet know that well enough, in it.

Eventually, she could no longer put up a sufficient enough defense against my counter-attacks, and she was vanquished. Especially after a red-tipped blue rose surrounded by a ring of feather-like quills distracted her from fighting me. That rose and those quills came from a quite strange man on top of a nearby restaurant's roof, in fact. He was then quite unfamiliar to me in my life, both in his fighting state and out of it, but that wouldn't always remain the case for me in it. He spoke a few words to her, and after she leapt toward him, all of a sudden, I threw my sword right at her, when Hatargo then told me to. I shouted "Redemption Sword Throw!" when she was still no more than about ten feet from me, and about eight feet above the nearest bit of ground to us all here. My sword flew straight and true right through her wings, which then made her fall down to the ground just as she was about to reach the strange man on top of that restaurant's roof. Before she could then prevent me from doing otherwise, I took up my sword again from where it'd landed after passing through her wings, and I quickly beheaded her, just before sheathing my sword quite briefly in her heart as well. My sword's quite-brief sheathing in her heart actually killed her instantly afterward. She quite rapidly then turned right to dust, which briefly lingered here, before permanently vanishing from sight on the nearby ground. As it then completely vanished, all the people whose energy had just been drained received it all back in very short order, for that matter.

Five minutes later, at most, I was once again Chelsea Hunter, and no longer in the general area of either the battle or the park. Hatargo eventually let me leave the area here, and resume what I'd been doing when he suddenly came upon me as I was walking on a sidewalk earlier. But not before telling me that I'd have to keep everything that'd just happened to me and everything that we'd talked about quite secret, if and whenever possible. He said that I'd have to do that, in fact, for various reasons that might or might not be too numerous to mention in sufficient enough detail. At least as of the current time, anyway.

I eventually returned home by 5:45 pm, local time, which was about two or so hours after I often would get home on a typical school day. When I came in, my father asked, "Where've you been, Chelsea?"

"I got caught in a crowd, so to speak, Father." Which was sort of the truth, due to the fact that I'd had to fight the monster I'd fought earlier over and around many other people, if not the whole truth. "And it took me a while to get out of it well enough, for that matter." I said nothing at all to him here about my brand-new Sailor Scout state, or anything else related well enough to the earlier battle, for all the obvious reasons, of course. No matter what it was, I still didn't do so at all here.

My father was once a swinger, as was my mother, so to speak. And they once used to use assorted drugs, smoke, and drink, with a lot of people in their lives. Eventually, my future father was infected with the AIDS virus during an overseas business trip with my future mother and many others from a company that he and all those other people then worked for. One avoidable thing led to many other avoidable things, and my future father eventually was infected with the AIDS virus by one of his then-current co-workers at that very same company.

Even more time eventually passed for both of our future parents in their respective lives, of course. And just a few years or so later, at most, during still another business trip for their mutual employer at that time, I and my fellow quadruplets were all conceived quite unexpectedly indeed. About seven or so months after we were all unexpectedly conceived in the usual manner, then, our mother finally was infected by our father, in their marriage bed of six or so months, at the very latest. When it came time for us to all be born, then, I was the only one of the four of us to be contaminated at birth with the AIDS virus, no thanks to what our future father had done many times before in his life.

Because of his gross irresponsibility of many long years ago, I now have the AIDS virus as a part of my life. And because of it, two of my brothers and one of my sisters do too. Even though neither of my parents still lives as they each used to long ago, every single member of our family now has to deal with the effects of what my father did, of course. Especially those of us who now have AIDS in it, in fact.

My father said, "I see, Chelsea. Supper should be ready around 8, perhaps."

"I think I'd not mind having some pizza tonight, if I can, Father."

"The others were thinking that we could perhaps have some chicken casserole or something similar for supper, Chelsea."

"Don't we have some pasta or pizza available in the fridge for us right now?" I asked. I don't generally like to eat meat from various birds. Or at least not parts of them that aren't legs or drumsticks, for that matter, in my life. I mean, I might occasionally eat meat from other parts of birds besides their legs and/or drumsticks, but those are my favorite parts of birds to eat, if and whenever I have to eat them in my life.

"I suppose we might. But you'll have to convince your mother to let you have something other than casserole for supper, if they actually want us to have at least part of one tonight, Chelsea."

I reluctantly nodded at him momentarily, in direct acknowledgement of that very fact, just before I headed to the bedroom that I now shared with Sable. My other six siblings were paired up in three other bedrooms in our two-story house, and my parents normally slept in the house's attic. Sable and I shared one room, Franklin and Woodrow a second, Joseph and Clarence a third, and Gabrielle and Odemyla a fourth. All four boys occupied bedrooms on the second story, and all we girls occupied ones on the first floor, which was the one closest to street level for all ten of us in our house.

Such had been the case for us all since we'd all moved there a little more than a year before, in fact. We had moved to Japan after my father's current employer transferred him there. We came to Japan in July of 2006, and had been here ever since that time. Odemyla was the most recent of us to have been born, and she was born in 2005, for that matter.

Joseph, Franklin, Gabrielle, and I had all been born in 1993. About four or so years after we all were, more or less, Clarence then joined our family. About two or so years after that, while we were all still living in the Los Angeles area of California, Sable joined our family next. Woodrow came along about another two or so years after that, also while we were still in the Los Angeles local area. Finally, at least as of the current time, Odemyla joined our considerably-large family, and no other children have joined our family since she did about two years or so ago.

When Mother was still actually carrying me and the rest of my womb-mates, I was generally the weakest of all four of us. That actually remained the case for us all, at least until I was a few years old, by the way. Because I then was, I proved to be the most susceptible to being infected with AIDS from birth. The others who'd shared my mother's womb at the same time as I was in it were considerably stronger than I was before we were born. Even Gabrielle.

However, they also eventually got infected with AIDS as I've already mentioned here. Of all four of us, I am still somewhat weak, health-wise, in comparison to the rest of my birth group, but I am now healthier than Gabrielle, who was the one who unintentionally infected by a forgotten syringe earlier used for drug-related purposes. It took a good while for her to pull through to at least some considerable degree, after she was unexpectedly infected by that needle, but Gabrielle still did so. Right after she did, my parents drastically changed their ways, including quitting all the substances that they'd earlier used cold-turkey, for the good of the entire family. Many things changed for us all, once they did. Many people who were once welcomed with open arms into our residences were no longer granted sufficient access to them, no matter who they were or had been. My parents changed jobs, and broke off ties quite abruptly with many people, even if those people didn't like the idea of them doing so at all. Their former habits of swinging with many people, and doing a lot of immoral things with those people, were quickly broken, though not without at least some temptation for them both as they all were still being broken. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons.

What helped them change their ways so drastically within six months of the births of my fellow quadruplets and myself was being threatened with lifetime imprisonment, for assorted illegal things they'd done, among other things that helped them do so. They also found themselves drawn to church shortly after being given an ultimatum by various law enforcement and judicial branch officials from the Los Angeles local area, the State of California, and the federal government of the United States, to either clean up their respective acts or risk losing us all forever, due to being thrown into the penal system for the rest of their natural lives. Two months after they were first drawn to church, they both became Christians. And once they did, things rapidly changed for us all in our lives. Money became tight for some time, until we all adjusted well enough to our changed circumstances.

Where once we had often been around assorted drug dealers and corrupt governmental officials, to name just a few of the people we'd often been around before in our respective lives, we all quickly found ourselves in greatly-reduced financial conditions. Our expenses were cut quite severely, our possessions were often sold or discarded as needed or desired, and every past, present, and future penny was accounted for before it was spent for anything at all. No matter what it was.

My parents started to tithe without fail immediately after becoming Christians. Television was rarely, if ever, watched in our homes, for many years. Movies were very few and far between, in terms of being watched by any of us. Everything that came into our homes was quite throughly examined, where possible, before it ever passed our homes' doors or entered its airspace, among other things. Even all reading material was checked out before it was permitted inside our walls, wherever possible. Especially for things that might potentially entice my parents to fall back into their old habits, whatever they might be, most definitely.

This is still generally the case for everything that comes into our residences, by the way. At least for those of us who are too young to make enough decisions on our own for ourselves, anyway. Joseph, Franklin, Gabrielle, and I have already each been judged to be sufficiently capable of making most decisions for ourselves in our respective lives. But our parents still periodically make certain decisions for us, for all the obvious reasons, of course. As for the rest of our siblings, they aren't yet old enough to do that in each of their own lives, for that matter.

When Joseph, Franklin, Gabrielle, and I were still each 8 years old, we mutually decided to accept Jesus Christ into our respective lives as our Lord and Saviour, after church one Wednesday evening. We all have chosen to live each of our lives in Godly manners, so as not to repeat the same mistakes that our parents used to make. To the best of my current knowledge, however, none of our four younger siblings have done so yet in their own lives. Hopefully they all will make the exact same choice about such things in each of their lives that we've all made in each of ours, before it's too late for them each to do so in them, quite naturally enough.

Years later, we eventually moved to a bigger house, as needed and as our family still grew. It may grow even larger, but not likely through the usual means, for all the obvious reasons here. Only time will tell us all, however, just what the case might be in that particular regard for us all in our family, at least.

We still own certain property in and/or around the Los Angeles local area, even if we're currently living in Tokyo, Japan, for whatever reason or reasons that might actually be necessary for us here. But since we can't exactly be there all the time, due to the simple fact of us having to live in Japan right now in our respective lives, it's all being taken care of in our family's present absence from there as necessary, for whatever reason or reasons might be appropriate for us all here.

When I entered the bedroom that I shared with Sable, she was already working on her homework at a desk in her part of our room. Specifically, she was working on some math homework that she'd been assigned earlier that day in school, when I did so. She soon said, after she had stretched out a bit behind it, "I see you're back from wherever you just were, Chelsea. I hope you had a good day today, of course. And that you haven't been missing our friends and things back home too much during it, either."

I often have wished, since we came here, that we were back there. But at the current time, at least, that just isn't possible for us all in our respective lives. Because it is necessary for my father to work here for his company, we are now here. Even if I don't like that fact at all, or at least not very much. "Well enough, I suppose, Sable. Yes, I'm still missing those people and things that you just mentioned at least a little bit, if not a great deal, as I often do. I really wish that we were all back home so that I wouldn't necessarily have to speak, write, and/or think in Japanese, most, if not all, the time in public, in fact."

We are all learning Japanese as quickly as we can, of course. But English, primarily of the American English variety, is still our mother tongue, so to speak. Or at least for those of us who have begun talking often enough by now in our respective lives, anyway. Odemyla has begun to pick up both English and Japanese, with a few words of other assorted languages included, mainly from listening to the rest of us in her immediate family and to others she periodically might spend time with, whenever necessary.

We older children do most of the translating for our parents into Japanese when they have to use it. At least whenever they're not having to work, anyway. Mother normally stays home during the day to take care of my siblings who aren't yet old enough for school, in fact. Those children, by the way, are Woodrow and Odemyla. The rest of us are currently all still school-aged in our lives. Father now primarily works as a journalist/cameraman for the _Tokyo Rising Sun Chronicle_, but he also has been known to submit assorted other writing-related projects for possible publication to several mass-media book and magazine publishers.

Sable asked, "But most people from here don't have English of any particular variety as their main language, Chelsea. Right? And why don't you like Japanese so much, apparently?"

Father has seventeen free-lance different hard-copy manuscripts currently making the rounds of assorted publishers all over the world. 45 others are in various stages of development and completion, prior to being offered to assorted media outlets. Most of them short pieces of perhaps no more than 7,500 to 13,000 words each, on average, for that matter. I know about all of these writing-related things due to the simple fact that he often tells me about his assorted manuscripts whenever we can possibly find enough time to talk about certain writing-related matters in our lives. He has always been a fairly good writer, at least from whatever I've often seen of his previous and current work, whenever he's actually stayed off the drugs and other unnecessary substances. He has already had about 750 post-high school manuscripts published in many different books and magazines in his career. However, much of the money that he earned from them being published often went up in smoke, down a proverbial drain through booze, or through his prior immoral behavior. Either through medical bills or through certain actions which I am not totally knowledgeable about, for at least one reason, if not more than one, of course. And even if I am at least a little knowledgeable about those certain actions, if not quite knowledgeable about them, I will not go into too-great detail about what he may or may not have done long ago that's sufficiently related to them at all. At least not at this time, if ever.

When he was on or doing those unnecessary things, however, in whatever ways he was actually on or doing them before in his own life, his writing abilities related to various such projects of his were greatly, if not totally, impaired. The associated writing projects were consequently of quite poor quality, in many ways, if not completely. And such projects were generally only published due to certain conditions that might have then been in force for them all at such times, if ever.

His typical writing quality has quite steadily improved ever since he totally gave up all unnecessary and all unhealthy substances that he'd been using or consuming before Gabrielle's quite serious health scare and his quite serious legal problems. However, he may never be as good a writer as he might have been had he not even started to abuse those substances, et cetera, for all the obvious reasons, of course. He really thinks that I might even come to surpass him in average writing quality if I am able to live long enough to put out as many things as he's previously put out in his own career, in fact. I may not yet be there, but he thinks that I might be there within five to ten years, if at all possible, in my own life.

"Probably too many kanji, et cetera. It's perhaps quite difficult for many people to learn enough kanji to get along rather well, at least in terms of general conversation, I think. At least for me, it seems to be, anyway, Sable," I answered, about a minute or two of somewhat silent contemplation later. Sable had hair that she often wore in two medium-sized braids. When completely unbound, however, it generally fell to about her waist, if not even longer than that, in her life.

At the current time, it was in its usual braids. She normally wouldn't take her hair out of them until just before she went to bed, though. She was wearing those braids over a pair of mostly faded blue coveralls and a light blue blouse under the coveralls. On her feet, she now wore a pair of light brown open-toed sandals with a flat heel, for that matter.

She was nearly eight years old, and generally looked it. She had been born just a few days before the end of 1999, about 28 months after Clarence had previously joined our family. And just about another 28 months before Woodrow did. Odemyla had followed Woodrow after her by nearly thirteen months, for that matter. Sable also had an unusual birthmark that wound around her left leg just above the knee. This unusual birthmark of hers consisted of apparently-woven copper-colored chains fringed by interlocking double-fluked silver anchors both above and below the main part of her birthmark. Half the interlocking anchors had bases that pointed up, and half of them had ones that pointed down. That very same birthmark went no more than just about ten inches above her left knee, at its greatest extent, while the lowest part of it went down to only about two inches above that knee. Why she actually had that rather unusual birthmark in her life, nobody mortal knew that well enough yet, if they ever would, by the way.

"I see, Chelsea." We both worked on our respective school-related assignments, at least for the most part, until just a little while before supper was due to be served. But I only did so after having first changed out of my school uniform here and into more casual clothes, of course.

I changed first into some more casual clothes, which consisted basically of an outfit with a mostly purple blouse, a tan skirt that fell nearly to my knees, and a pair of mostly white and purple tennis shoes. At least as of the present time, anyway. After I did, we soon headed to our house's kitchen/dining room area downstairs, with me in the lead by a few minutes or so. Mother was just finishing up supper for everyone here. And I briefly conversed with her for a little while, until Sable and the rest of my siblings who could do so began arriving in that area of our residence here. She let me heat up some pizza for myself, and get myself a few other things as well, after our somewhat brief conversation here. And I did so while everyone else, including both of my parents, eventually began to eat the other food that she'd just prepared. She wasn't upset at all about me not wanting to possibly have at least some chicken casserole here. For she knew that I wasn't a person who generally liked to eat certain kinds of bird meat. And she was also in a reasonably good mood at the present time, for that matter. Just why that was the case, I didn't know yet, if I ever would. But hopefully I might find out why she was in the very near future, in fact.

After I heated up all the food I chose for myself which had to be heated up, I soon brought it to our long table there that had room for ten people at it. At least if they were sitting in normal chairs there, anyway. I briefly said some grace over it, as I had often been known to do, after I sat down in my usual place at the table. Mother was at the foot of the table, and Father at the head. I sat directly to the left of Father, opposite Joseph at it. On my immediate left, Gabrielle sat, directly opposite Franklin. Directly to Gabrielle's left, Sable sat, directly opposite Clarence. Odemyla sat to Mother's right, directly opposite from Woodrow.

During a long enough lull in assorted table-talk, I eventually asked, "Father, do you think that I could have a horse, by any chance?"

"I don't know, Chelsea. We don't really have a place where we can house them and take care of them well enough, it seems. And I don't know if we can afford it, anyway, even if we did have a place in mind where such a horse could be housed and taken care of well enough around here."

"Maybe not, but I would really like it if I could have a horse of my own while we're here in Japan, somehow, Father."

"It might be hard to make such a thing possible, Chelsea," said Mother. "Remember, six of us have AIDS in this family. Medical bills are probably going to take up much of the money that we'd normally spend on such things, you know. Medicine for you and the rest of us that have AIDS isn't necessarily cheap, even now, I think."

"I know, Mother. But I miss being able to ride our horses back home, just the same, in fact."

Sable said, "So do I, Chelsea. But the fact is, we're here, and not there. Father's company sent him here, and so we're here, and not there."

"I realize that, Sable. But I still wish we were all back home, of course."

Joseph, a brown-haired boy now in black and red, said, "Checor, don't you think that we're all missing certain people and things from back home right now?"

"Of course I do, Joe. I'm quite sure you all are doing just that as well, for all the obvious reasons. It's just that I haven't really been able to make many friends just yet here in Japan, even though we've been here for a while. Sure, I know that I've met many people in school around here, since we got here. But I've not yet really been able to make many friends here, if any at all."

My black-haired brother Franklin, who was then mostly in an orange and navy blue outfit, said, "Don't worry so much about that sort of thing, Chelsea. I'm sure you're eventually going to make some, for some yet-unknown reason."

"I'm not really all that worried about making some friends, I think, Frank. Sure, I might make them, or I might not. It'll depend on how things go for me in that regard soon enough, of course."

Gabrielle suggested, "Why not invite some girls over here some night for a slumber party, Chelsea?" Gabrielle was then wearing a mostly pink and copper-colored blouse, mostly pink knee-length skirt, and mostly pink house slippers on her feet., as she made that suggestion in a rather questioning manner here. "I really don't think that Father and Mother would perhaps object to the idea here. You've often been quite alone, if and whenever possible, ever since we all got here like we did, by the way."

Father said, "No, I don't think we will either, Gabrielle. That is a good idea, as a matter of fact. I wish I had thought of it, by the way."

Woodrow said, "I don't like it. Don't like it when too many girls are around at once."

"Would you like to go have a boys' night out with your brothers and father, whenever your sisters have slumber parties, by any chance, Woody?" asked Mother.

"No girls allowed except where needed?" asked Woody.

"That's right, Woody. No girls allowed except where needed."

"Sure I would. Girls I don't know are scary, I think."

"I see. Very well, then. If it's not too much of a problem with your father, then that's what we'll do from now on, whenever your sisters have a slumber party in the future, if you'd like."

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" bubbled Woodrow.

Father said, after a few brief moments of consideration here, "Agreed. Whenever any of your sisters decide to have such a party wherever we're living, we boys will have a night out, Woody."

"Thank you, Father!" said Woody. He said that quite exuberantly, in fact.

"Anywhere we want, Dad, within reason?" asked Clarence.

"Yes, Rence, anywhere within reason," answered Father.

Odemyla apparently thought about trying to say something here. But she couldn't get the necessary words out here, as she anxiously scratched her black-haired head, trying to figure out what she wanted to say, in between some spoonfuls of food Mother was feeding her now. She finally said, "Want Pa near me all time. Do not want miss Pa any."

"Myla, Pa needs to be with your brothers every so often," said Mother.

"Don't like missing Pa."

"Pa doesn't like being away from you either, but he often has to be," said Father.

"Pa, don't go!"

"Myla, I always come back, don't I?"

"Yes, I suppose so. But don't like missing you, Pa."

Father nodded at her, and gave her a wink, all of a sudden. After he did so, Myla settled down quite a bit, and let Mother finish feeding her here with no further bouts of unpleasantness of any kind, in fact.

Eventually, we all finished our suppers, and headed to our respective rooms for the rest of the night. That done, we eventually retired to our respective beds. I retired to my bed about half an hour after Sable did, and it was 11:30 at night when I did so, for that matter. I read a Bible in English for a while as I lay in my bed, and then set it on my bedside table, at about 11:45 pm. By local midnight, then, I was quite soundly asleep, and lost in one of the countless lands of dreams that might or might not actually exist anywhere in the Universe. I wouldn't likely arise from my bed again until about 7 in the morning, as was often my habit.

* * *

Chapter Two will soon follow, of course. Enough said. The Universal Storyteller out. 


	3. Chapter Two:  Unplanned Encounters

Here's Chapter Two. I hope you think it worth your time. Enough said.

* * *

Chapter Two: Unplanned Encounters

The rest of the school week went well enough for me, and so did much of the weekend that followed immediately afterward. However, not all of the weekend that followed did, after I rather unexpectedly encountered someone who would be quite important in my life in the future, but who I didn't yet know well enough yet in it. This person was named Terumoto Serizawa, and I first saw him leaving a gymnasium elsewhere in Azabu Juuban, when I was walking past it alone on my way home from a nearby library. He was leaving it with two other boys, and they were tossing around a basketball with each other, as they were doing so. One of their tosses, though, went a little awry, and I got smacked on my right shoulder as I was walking home. One of the boys said, "Sorry," from about ten feet away. This boy was Terumoto, by the way, but I didn't yet know that. I turned to face three boys, and then set my books on the ground as I headed for their ball here. Those three boys would come to be well-known to me, but Terumoto would eventually be the one that was best-known to me in my life, for whatever reason or reasons. At the moment, though, none of us knew all that at all in our lives. I then picked up their ball, and began walking off with it, once I picked up my stuff again that I'd just set down briefly.

The three boys looked briefly at each other, and conversed with each other, before two of them suddenly decided that the other boy with them should try to get their ball back. The other boy, of course, was Terumoto, but I didn't yet know that, obviously enough. I saw all this out of the corner of my eye as I headed away from them all, in fact.

When that boy left his apparent friends outside the gymnasium, he began walking fast. I began running, but he also did so. As time passed, he began catching up to me. Eventually, I had to pause for breath, and that was when he suddenly caught up with me in an alley that I'd just ducked into here about sixteen blocks away from the gymnasium that I'd first seen him outside.

He said, in a rather calm voice here, speaking in Japanese, of course, "I want the ball back, please."

As soon as I recognized that someone was talking to me, I then asked, in the same language, "Who are you, and why should I return your ball to you when you hit me with it?"

He pulled me out of the alley, so that we could both see each other's face well enough. Then he picked me up and perched me on top of a garbage can with lid in use. He then said, still in Japanese, "My name is Terumoto Serizawa, ma'am, and it was an accident that you were hit with it, as I was tossing it around with Shoyo and Nobuo."

We looked each other over briefly, and I saw a black-haired young man of perhaps 17 years or so old here. He was then wearing a mostly light blue and green jacket over a mostly red and blue running outfit of some sort. His somewhat thick hair was about shoulder-length with just a bit of wave to it. Over his eyes, he wore a pair of sunglasses with light-sensing lenses for them. The frames to those mostly rectangular-lensed sunglasses essentially matched his running outfit, but not his jacket. I couldn't see most of the upper half of his running outfit, for his jacket hid most of it from my view at the current time, though. He now appeared to be about 5'9" and perhaps about 150 pounds. His face was rather clean-shaven, but it also showed signs of recent shaving on it, as evidenced by a few small nicks on his chin. A small vertical scar was also present just under his lower lip, for some yet-unknown reason to me.

"I see. And so?" I asked, as he released his grip on me after first setting me on top of the now-lidded garbage can here.

"I would really like our ball back, if you don't mind. And I would like your name, as well, for that matter, ma'am." He removed his sunglasses and put them in a pocket of his jacket, revealing a pair of dark blue eyes while he did so. They were nearly the shade of blue that was often called "Navy Blue," but not quite that shade, by the way.

"Why should I give you my name, Serizawa-san?"

"Because I have this rather strange feeling, for some yet-unknown reason, that we'll often be seeing each other in the future, in fact, ma'am. So your name will be needed by me, if that's true. I will not ask again."

We glared at each other here for at least a few minutes, before I finally said, "My name is Chelsea Hunter, Serizawa-san. I am too young for you, as well."

"You are not. You must be 14 or so years old. I am 17."

"My parents wouldn't let me date a 17-year-old right now in my life."

"But we will be close to each other, I believe, in the future."

"In your dreams." I held the ball quite close to me as I said that, by the way.

"Exactly." He shot me a quite-teasing glance as he said that. How infuriating!

"You're kidding me." I was, quite obviously, rather skeptical here about such things.

"Nope. Saw you. Saw me. Saw the future. You're in it, baby." He laughed briefly like a hyena.

I soon snapped, "Never call me baby!"

"Then what should I call you, ma'am?" asked he, with a sneaky grin on his face as he did so.

"Hunter-san, if you don't mind." I began to fume, as I said that.

"I happen to like 'Baby,'" said Serizawa. "It suits you."

"I think not, Serizawa-san. As you can see, I'm not a baby."

"No, maybe not, but you still have the heart of a child, deep within you, even after all you've already gone through in your life."

"And what would you know of it, seeing as we only just met?"

"A lot more than you think I know, Hunter-san."

"How can you?"

"I can't tell you right now. Later on, I will, I assure you. But just not yet. There will be two others who you will meet, and they will be my rivals for your affection, for that matter. I don't yet know who they are, but I do happen to know that they will be, sometime in the future. They are not from Juuban, I believe. At least not as of the current time, anyway."

"I see. Let me guess. Your dreams?"

"Yes, Baby, that's right."

"Don't call me Baby!" I smacked him on his left shoulder with a jab, and he took it easily enough, with little discomfort, if at all.

"Watch out for flaming torches on your way back home, then, Hunter-san. There are going to be circus performers tossing them around later, as you're approaching their location a few blocks from your home, and if you don't do so, you might find yourself being hit by at least one of them."

"Yeah, right."

"Don't believe me, if you don't want to. But don't be surprised at all if what I say here proves to be true enough, then, Hunter-san."

I then left him, after suddenly slamming the basketball into his stomach, and quite in a huff now, for the obvious reasons. Several minutes later, though, what he had predicted came to be true to a significant enough degree here. I spotted those flaming torches heading toward me, and just barely avoided being hit by their flames as I was still heading home on the necessary sidewalk. One of the circus performers suddenly hurried up to me, and introduced herself as Ryoko Serramas Nakane. She, too, would become rather important to me in due time. But it would take at least a little while for that to happen, most likely.

She checked me out, and said, in Japanese, "Sorry about that, ma'am." She appeared to be about a year or so older than I, and she was then wearing a mostly tan blouse with red trim and a mostly purple mini-skirt with silver trim that fell to just about two or so inches above her knees. In each of her unattached earlobes, there were stud earrings that looked almost like erupting volcanoes, if not entirely like them. A beaded necklace with rubies and jade was around her neck at the present time. On her medium-sized feet, she was now wearing a relatively-new pair of mostly purple one-inch heels.

"I don't recognize you as being from around here, Nakane-san." I unconsciously shifted to English after the word being, by the way.

"I'm not. I live in another part of Tokyo. And where do you live?" asked the magenta-eyed Ryoko, as she ran her fingers through her medium blonde and slightly tousled chin-length hair here. All while she shifted easily enough to English after mentioning that she now lived in another part of Tokyo in Japanese to me.

"I live in the Azabu Juuban part of Minato-ku, and attend Juuban Junior High School in it," I said. We each looked one another over for a few moments apiece, before I decided to introduce myself to her as well. "I am Chelsea Hunter, and I'm from the United States originally."

"I attend school in the part of Tokyo that I live in, of course, Hunter-san."

"And that is?"

"Shibuya, in fact. I live in Shibuya. But right now, I'm visiting friends who work for a circus, mainly, around here."

"Tell me about Shibuya, please, here."

"Shibuya is a highly commercial part of Tokyo. A lot of big companies are based there, it seems to me. I attend school at Shibuya Heights Senior High School, the biggest Senior High School in our part of Tokyo, a few blocks or so away from my home in Shibuya. I attended Shibuya Heights Elementary and Junior High Schools from 1997 to this past June. I moved to Shibuya Heights Senior High School this year, and I am now in 10th Grade there. I am in the Class of 2010, as well, for that matter."

"Do you work for the circus as well, by any chance, Nakane-san?"

"Mainly, I work for them as a ticket-taker, part-time, Hunter-san. But I also have been known to do at least a few, if not a lot of, juggling performances for them every once in a while whenever they're putting on a show around here. I most often work for them during breaks from school, in fact."

We conversed for a little while longer with each other, until one of her apparent friends called for her assistance with something else. We soon parted, with us both not yet realizing that we'd often see each other in the future, by the way. And we parted with some smiles on both our faces as well, for that matter.

I arrived home at around 5 pm local time on Sunday, October 7, 2007. Father and my brothers were out when I arrived home again here. According to Mother, they had decided to spend some time out with each other elsewhere in Azabu Juuban. Mother said that they had all gone to a local art museum for a while, even Woodrow. She said that Clarence had earlier requested that they do so, in fact. And the other males in my immediate family agreed that they should do that for at least a little while on that very day, as well.

Gabrielle was helping Mother take care of Odemyla, and Sable was in our room, when I returned home here. I soon went to my room, and saw that Sable was working quite intently and quite carefully on a new quilt that she'd actually begun work on at the very beginning of the current school year. When I walked in, Sable was beginning to sew yet another patch on the quilt's upper surface. Two square patches were already sewn next to each other on it, and there was perhaps room for at least ten or so others just like them, at least in terms of their shapes, on it, if not even more, for that matter.

One already sewn-on patch had a tan scroll in the center of it with an purple O centered on the scroll, and several silver stars and orange flame bursts were arranged around that same scroll on it. Another patch had a mostly red and blue hourglass in its middle, with most of the sand at the top of it currently, just under a medium-sized white T. The patch that Sable was now working on placing here bore a single double-fluked silver anchor inside a double copper-colored chained circle arrangement with the word "Monsoon" spelled out in light blue Old English text on a brown background for the area between the two concentric circles. The anchor was itself on a navy blue background, for that matter.

I asked her, "Where did you get these unusual patches, Sable?"

"I actually made them out of fabric that Mother and I bought after school two weeks ago, Chelsea. I had a dream last Thursday, and made up these three patches by the time bedtime came to me last night. I sewed the first two of them on right after I had my breakfast this morning. You were already off to the library by then, in fact. Several more are in the process of being made up and prepared for use on this quilt, for that matter. And I will actually be joining you sometime later on this very week in your new battle. Perhaps as soon as Tuesday afternoon, it now seems to me."

"What are you talking about here, Sable?" I asked, as I sat down at my desk in our room and picked up an inspirational-style novel in English that I had recently begun to read.

"You have now begun to fight against evil in this world. My dream that I first saw these patches in told me so. And there was someone who aided you in your first battle against evil last week. A young man helped you in it. The battle didn't make the local papers, mind you, but I still know of it, through my aforementioned dream. This young man will be very important to you in the future, as well." She said this, as I began reading again from where I'd last left off in that novel.

"I saw a young man this afternoon who hit me with a basketball who said that we'd often see each other in the future. He seemed rather insistent about that, and he called me 'Baby,' as well."

"I see. I don't yet know this young man personally, but I will meet him someday, according to my dream. The girl that you met this afternoon not too far from here will also enter my life in physical reality, though she hasn't yet done so. She will also be rather important to you in your life," said Sable.

"He predicted that he will not be the only young man who will be interested in me later on. He said that there will be two others who aren't currently from around here who will be." I read more of my novel, even as I said that to her here.

"I don't know if that actually will be true sometime later on, in fact, Chelsea. But if I know you well enough in my life, I wouldn't be very surprised at all if it ever was later on."

"I am not looking for a boyfriend, Sable!" I set down my book briefly, and reached into a drawer of my desk where I often had kept certain special edible items before. I took out a raisin and marshmallow granola bar, and opened its wrapping, seconds before I began eating it.

"You may not be looking for one, but you will eventually have one, no doubt, later on in your life, if at all possible."

"How can you say that I will, when I have AIDS?" I took a second bite of my granola bar after saying that to her here, in fact.

"You may have AIDS now, as you say, but I'm sure that won't really matter to anyone who really cares for you in their lives. It doesn't matter to me, and I'm reasonably certain that it doesn't to most, if not all, of the rest of our immediate family."

"But as long as I have AIDS, I probably have no chance of being a mother of at least one healthy child in my life." I took a third bite of my granola bar, before setting it down, and reaching for a tissue in a box elsewhere on my desk, for I was now starting to feel tears well up in my eyes.

"That may be true, or not, but I really don't think that you'll be any less of a girl or a woman for that very fact, if you don't let it control what you may or may not do in your own life, Chelsea."

"I want to be a mother of at least one healthy child later on in my life. As long as I have AIDS, that may never happen." Sable set aside the quilt she was then working on, and looked at me briefly here, as well.

"So what if it never does, Chelsea? You don't have to be a mother to be a wonderful woman, I'm sure."

"But I feel that I'll be missing something as a woman if I'm never a mother," I cried.

"How so?"

"I strongly believe that motherhood is the highest known mortal state of possible being as a woman in this world, Sable. And I may never experience it for myself!" Some tears began streaming out of my eyes as I said those things here.

"That may be so, or it may not. But, in the meantime, what do you intend to do around boys and men in the future? I mean, you might not be able to avoid falling in love with them, you know."

"Well, I don't want to get too close to them, Sable. I don't want to take the chance of possibly infecting them with AIDS or anything else in the future, if I can possibly avoid it at all."

"It wasn't actually your fault that you have AIDS, Chelsea." She came over to me, and began holding me in her arms, as I still cried here in my chair

"No, but it was through that sort of thing that eventually caused me to have it, you know."

"Because of what Father did with other people, and then with Mother?" She led me to my bed, and we both soon sat down on top of it, slipping off our shoes as we did so.

"Yes, of course, Sable. I don't want to get that close to any male, if I can possibly avoid it at all."

"Because you don't want to do them possible harm?"

"Obviously, Sable." She briefly released me from her grasp, and went over to my desk, picking up my mostly-eaten granola bar as she did so. As she did, I dabbed at my eyes to try to wipe away a few of the tears that were now still streaming out of them.

"I may not know very much about that sort of thing, for all the obvious reasons here, Chelsea. But it still carries at least some, if not a lot of, risk of actually doing possible harm to someone. No matter how things generally are between two people who may do that sort of thing, or who may think about that sort of thing, in actual reality, I think. That sort of thing requires that people be quite willing to accept certain rather personal risks that they might not otherwise accept. It also requires the total letting-go of anything at all that might possibly detract from the bonding between two such people, whatever it might actually be. That sort of thing requires total commitment to the other person, without which the relationship can't proceed as it should proceed between both people in such a situation. Fear has no place in such a situation. And so don't a lot of other things, for that matter." She handed me back my granola bar as she finished speaking here.

As I finished my granola bar here, I asked her, "Just how do you know all these things, Sable? Do I really want to know, either?"

"Our parents have discussed this sort of thing with me at least a few times, and I have talked with four of our siblings about such things at least a few times as well. Also I have talked with my friends about such things every once in a while, if and whenever needed or desired. Whether it's in the States or here, for that matter, I have. And I have thought about this sort of thing periodically in my life, for that matter, Chelsea."

"And how have your thoughts about this sort of thing changed over time?" I threw my granola bar's wrapper away in the nearest trash can in our room.

"I tend to generally agree with them, if and wherever possible. However, Frank seems to be sort of like you about this sort of thing. He doesn't think that it might be possible for him to have at least one healthy child of his own later on in his life, if not more than one. Joe thinks otherwise, and so does Gabrielle. None of the three are really interested in dating yet, if they'll ever be. But Joe and Gabrielle seem to be the most interested in such an idea for later on in their respective lives. I think Gabrielle might be more interested in potentially dating boys later on than Joe might be in dating girls later on, at least as of the current time."

"That may be so, but I don't think it would be wise for us to consider dating anyone at all if we have AIDS, Sable." I then threw away my tissue in the same can that I'd just thrown my granola bar's wrapper in.

"Because of what might happen?"

"Of course." My tears suddenly stopped as I said that here and now.

"What will happen will happen, whether you like it or not, Chelsea. You can't live your whole life afraid of what might happen. If you do, then you will miss out on a lot of things that you might have experienced had you not been so afraid of what might happen in your life."

"Like?"

"True love, for one thing. There is a special guy out there somewhere for you, I'm quite sure. I don't yet know who he is, I think. But I still believe that there is such a guy out there for you, just the same. You can't be afraid to take the chance that you might fall in love with him and that certain things will happen for the both of you in your lives. I would hate to see you miss out on true love just because you're too afraid to take the chance that someone might not care that you might have AIDS or anything else you might have. Either now or later, for that matter, Chelsea."

"I don't want to fall in love like that."

"You may not want to, but I suspect you will, just the same, Chelsea."

We conversed, off and on, for a good while longer, until just about half an hour before supper. Which eventually came to be served for both of us and the other three females in our own immediate family at about 8:30 in the evening, local time. By that time, Father and our brothers hadn't yet returned from their day out with each other, in fact.

Mother had sometime earlier made us all some supper of fruit salad, beef stew, garlic bread, and assorted other items. She did this with a little help from Gabrielle, where needed, but not a lot of it. We all had our supper with each other, and left some food and drink for the rest of our immediate family, just in case they got back home soon enough during the current night.

After supper, Gabrielle and I helped put away all the necessary things wherever they needed to be in our home here. By 9:15 pm, then, everything that needed to be put away elsewhere was. No matter what it then might be here. And we each began heading to our respective rooms not too long after that particular time as well, for that matter.

Sable and I were both in our bedroom again by 9:30, with her then deciding to retire to her bed within fifteen more minutes of that time. I stayed up, however, until at least 11:10, if not even later than that. I worked on some homework at my desk for a good while before eventually retiring to my bed at about 11:15, where I then wrote and read for a while longer. I turned out my bedside light at roughly 11:45 at night, and was quite soundly asleep again in my bed by local midnight, as was still quite usual for me in my life, by the way.

* * *

About 4 pm local time on Tuesday, October 9, 2007, Sable and I were sitting outside our house for at least a little while, when Hatargo suddenly came right up to me here. I briefly looked at him, and then at her, before I suddenly did something that surprised her here quite a bit, in fact. As of the present moment in our lives, we actually were the only ones anywhere on the street, so to speak, rather unexpectedly. At least as far as we then knew, anyway. I hurried up to him, and I hopped suddenly onto his back, without a single word to her or to him, when I did so here. She then tried to keep me from staying on his back. But I wouldn't be moved right here and now. So she quite suddenly jumped onto his back as well, from about two or so yards away, at most. This, quite obviously, really surprised both him and me, of course. 

I tried to get her off his back for at least a few moments here. But just as she hadn't been able to get me off his back, I wasn't able to get her off it either. I said, "Sable, go inside. It's for your own good, believe me."

"No. I will not, Chelsea. Tell me why you suddenly hopped on this horse's back first."

"I can't. It's a secret, Sable. A very important one, in fact"

"Then I'll stay with you, until you do tell me that secret."

"Then you'll have to face the consequences of doing so. You don't know what you might be getting into here, Sable. I may not be able to protect you well enough, if you come with me, then. But don't say I didn't tell you that it was for your own good, if you do come with me. Go ahead, Hatargo, and take me where you need me to be now, if you wish."

Hatargo looked briefly at us both, before coming to a decision. He said, "As you direct, so will I do, Chelsea. I just hope that your sister will be able to handle what is to come, if she feels she must come with you here and now."

"The horse is talking, Chelsea!"

"Yes, he is. This is your last chance here to leave me now. Please go inside now, or you'll possibly regret it. If not now, then perhaps later, in your life. I'm not going to force you to go inside, but if you stay with me, then things will have to change for us all at least a little bit, if not a lot, from now on, Sable."

"I know, Chelsea. I will take my chances, though, if I must. What about the rest of our family?"

"They can't be told of this, if you choose to come along with me. And even if you don't."

"Why?"

"For their own good, Sable. If they know of this, then much will change for them and a good number of other people in this world of ours. No matter who they might be. And even if we might not actually know certain people yet in it."

Sable thought in relative silence about those things for a few very brief moments, before I asked, "Are you going inside or not, Sable? If not, then you'll have to come with me to wherever I'm going to have to go now, in fact. What's your decision, sister?"

Sable answered almost immediately, "I'm not leaving you alone with this horse to go anywhere right now alone with them. We were planning to spend a great deal of time with each other this afternoon, evening, and/or night on the current date, and I don't intend to let you keep us from doing it now, if I can possibly avoid it at all."

I thought about what she'd just said here, before finally answering, "Very well, Sable. You may stay with me. But you are not to breathe a single word of this to anyone else who yet doesn't know what you're about to learn. If you do, then there may be certain rather unpleasant consequences that various people might have to deal with. Quite possibly even with you, for that matter."

"I see. Well, then, let's do what we have to do, Chelsea."

"All right, Sable. But never let me hear you say that I didn't give you a chance to stay behind here instead of going with me to where we're evidently going to have to go now, understand?"

"Understood, Chelsea. I do intend to follow your instructions about this particular matter here to the best of my ability to do so, of course. "

I really hoped that she wouldn't do anything that'd put herself in quite unnecessary danger, of course, when we all went to where we'd all now need to go in the local area. But that was still to be seen, quite naturally enough here.

A minute later, I prodded Hatargo's sides gently with my feet, and he began to move to the necessary location in the local area. It took him and us until about 4:20 in the afternoon to find another strange being, after which I told Sable to hide wherever she could hopefully find some sufficient enough cover.

That strange being was similar to the one that I mainly fought earlier, but with no wings. This strange being was about twenty feet tall, and she looked a lot like a rather weird fusion of an octopus, a large-earred elephant, and a lion. At least for the most part, if not entirely. She had sixteen movable limbs, four of which it had to use to support the rest of its body, ten tentacle-like limbs, and six others. Two of the four required limbs that it had to use to support its weight looked like lion's legs, and two of them looked like elephant's legs, for that matter. After I saw that Sable was under sufficient enough cover at the present time, I then found what I thought would be a safe enough place to transform in. But I later learned that it wasn't actually a place where Sable couldn't see me transform well enough. I said the necessary three words, and transformed into Sailor Oshimuke just as quickly as I could, in the necessary manner. That done, I soon went to work on that strange being for a while.

It was another being out for energy-gathering purposes, in fact. I mainly fought it for a while, with at least some success, but not total success, against it in the battle. The young man that'd earlier shown up at my first battle appeared at this one as well. But the monster we were now battling was considerably stronger than the one that we'd fought earlier. So I reluctantly shouted to Hatargo, "We need more help, Hatargo! Get it, if at all possible, please!"

Hatargo immediately sped away from the current battle here, as I spared a very brief glance at him out of the corner of one eye, and as the young man aided me against the monster. He headed straight for where Sable had earlier hidden herself, in fact. He briefly conversed with her, until he suddenly jumped over several garbage cans then arranged in a tall pyramid. He leapt about twenty feet in the air, neighing and clapping his front hooves' bases together until a necklace with a pendant in the approximate shape of a double-fluked anchor materialized suddenly around his neck. He then leapt back over the aforementioned pyramid of cans, and landed about five or so feet away from Sable here.

Sable came right to him and followed his then-following instructions here. She took the necklace from around his neck, and put it around hers. It automatically resized itself as it then had to here. Grasping her new necklace's pendant in virtually the same manner as I had first done mine earlier, she then shouted, all of a sudden, "Gosedei Monsoon Power!" A pillar of mostly light blue light then surrounded her here. It appeared to actually be a pillar of water, in its virtual essence. Or at least for the most part, it did, anyway.

When she became fully visible again to everyone here, including me, she was in a uniform quite similar to mine, but not exactly like mine, of course. On her head, she wore a gold tiara with a black and green stone in it. Quilting needle-like clip-on earrings hung from her earlobes. A mostly light blue choker with several copper and silver symbols of some sort or sorts on it was then around her neck. Her new sailor-style collar was almost exactly like mine, with some obvious differences, in that the silver was replaced by copper, the purple by light blue, and the orange flame bursts by silver double-fluked anchors. She still wore the necklace that Hatargo had just given her, by the way. It currently rested in a similar enough position on her to how my necklace now rested on me. Her front bow, shoulders, and blouse were just like mine, except for the obviously needed color changes related to them all. As had actually been the case for the color changes present between our respective sailor-style collars, silver was replaced by copper, purple by light blue, and orange by silver, for them all. She also didn't have a belt, sword, or scabbard exactly like mine, but she did have a half-metallic, half-leather woven belt of some sort for herself around her uniform's waist, and several dozen quilting-style needles and pouches with any number of unknown items in them hanging from that belt of hers on it. A back bow wasn't present for her uniform either, for some yet-unknown reason, if it ever would be a known reason, here. Her uniform's skirt was also pleated in its nature, but it fell to just above where her birthmark ran around her left leg, by about an inch or two. Her current footwear consisted of mostly light blue ankle boots with silver and copper trim or symbols wherever necessary, and there were matching attached apparently-woven straps that ran up to about three inches below her knees present for them as well. Where there'd been stars on my footwear, quilting needle-like symbols appeared on hers, where possible. Where there'd been flame bursts on it, anchors appeared for her on it, also where possible. Such footwear then completed her current look, by the way, of course.

After she became fully visible here, then, the monster that the young man and I were currently battling turned to face her, and they asked, "Who are you? And why are you here?"

"I am Sailor Gosedei. I am the Sailor of Water and Ice, from a far-away world not around here! Leave now, or be prepared to be drenched! Fail to do so, and you will suffer the ice-cold wrath of the seas!"

Her almost-immediate response to Sailor Gosedei's challenge here was to try to reach out and grab her with several of her tentacles that were close enough to Sailor Gosedei for her to try to do that here. Gosedei didn't like that, and she really didn't like it very much, for that matter. Gosedei then said, "For trying to grab me, you will now be punished. Prepare to feel the ice-cold wrath of the seas, you vile thing!"

"A young girl such as you will punish me? Don't make me laugh!" said the being, who we'd later come to know as "Tataltaka," once the battle was over well enough, somehow.

Gosedei then shouted, as she tossed up into the air several needles and miniature anchors from where they were on her belt, "Gosedei Ice Flood!" From the skies above our heads, a rather large group of clouds of assorted types suddenly became quite visible here to us and to the rather strange monster, at least, if not to anyone else as well. Ten seconds after they each had done so sufficiently well, at most, then, a rather large cage of some sort that was largely, though not entirely, made up of ice and water began to appear around Tataltaka here. She really tried to avoid being trapped by that cage of some sort, quite obviously enough. But she was quite unsuccessful in her immediately-following attempts to do that well enough here. The cage of some sort eventually solidified here into a sort of dome shape, but not entirely. For a bit of an opening was still required in order for Gosedei to complete that attack of hers. A moderately long neck of some sort then appeared at the top of the cage. Soon, the cage largely, though not entirely, resembled a typical scientist's beaker. A rather large funnel of some sort appeared at the top of that beaker-like neck, after which she tossed all her remaining needles at the still-present clouds. All of those needles then penetrated all those clouds quite briefly, making them each begin to pour a great deal of their current contents into the beaker-like cage. Though not all of them. After they'd done that for a long enough time, Gosedei called all of her needles and anchors back to her, and quickly wove a quilt-like cork in front of her that'd somehow be large enough to stop up the top of the cage here. After that cork was made as needed, Gosedei easily lifted it from the nearby ground, and threw it quite effortlessly at the cage's opening. It lodged perfectly into said opening, before Tataltaka could manage to get any of her free tentacles out of it well enough. Once it did, Gosedei suddenly shouted at the young man and me, "Finish them, you two, before they somehow manage to break out of the cage they're now in!"

The young man sent forth another two red-tipped blue roses and at least a few more quills per rose in the exact same pattern as he'd actually done earlier near the end of my first battle, and I unleashed my finishing attack, with no further delay on either of our parts. The entire cage of sorts turned to dust almost immediately afterward, with Tataltaka still inside it. Before that dust vanished from the area as well, it briefly swirled around where the monster had been, and it showed the monster's name to us all. Then the dust disappeared from sight, perhaps never to be seen again in this world, and virtually all of the energy that Tataltaka had just tried to gather returned to those it had been taken from, in fact.

Two minutes later, at most, then, the young man, Gosedei, Hatargo, and I had quite quickly vacated the scene of the battle, for all the obvious reasons here, of course. First the young man left, and then Hatargo left it with Gosedei and I on his back, as well.

When we were far enough from the scene of the battle, and in a safe enough place to do so well enough, Gosedei and I powered down completely. She powered down back into Sable, and I powered down back into Chelsea, quite obviously enough, of course.

She was the first to speak, once we were in a safe enough place to do that well enough. She asked, "What happened out there, Chelsea? Why were you and Sentinel Tunka having trouble with that monster?"

"Sentinel Tunka?"

"The young man we fought alongside just now, Chelsea."

"Never heard of him, Sable."

"Well, he will be one of the Sentinels who will fight alongside us in the future, Chelsea. There still are at least two more coming that we haven't yet met up with, if not more than that. Another Sailor will awaken soon enough, perhaps. Just not for a little while, at least."

"Who will awaken next?"

"I don't know yet, but I do know that I have now joined your fight. I expect to be part of it for quite some time into the future, as well, if at all possible, Chelsea."

"What are we going to tell our parents and friends, then?"

"I'm sure we'll come up with something to tell them, if and whenever necessary, Chelsea, so that they'll be better protected against our various enemies, whoever they may happen to be."

We eventually arrived back at our home again by 5:10 in the late afternoon, on foot. For about a block or two before we got there again, Hatargo quite suddenly had us get off him again. We soon got off him, in a safe enough place for us to do so, before he then hurried away from us both, so that he'd hopefully not be seen well enough with us by our parents and any of our siblings, at least, in fact.

We headed shortly thereafter back to our bedroom, and spent most, if not all, of the rest of the evening or night there. Of course, we said nothing whatsoever at all about our actions related to being Sailor Scouts either to our parents or to our siblings before we both retired to our bedroom for at least the rest of the night, if not even longer than that. Though we both now knew it might be increasingly harder to keep any and all news about our Scout battles from getting around in the local area, the more we'd have to fight evil in it, by the way. We all had just barely vacated this particular afternoon's battle scene before many of the local media personalities quickly began rushing to it to cover the just-ended battle, in fact.

Sable and I discussed the battle for a while between ourselves, among assorted other things, after we'd both gone to our room for the rest of the night, at least. She eventually retired to her own bed by 9:15 pm, local time. While I stayed up for about two or so more hours after that. We turned off our lights near our beds at 9:30 pm and 11:30 pm, respectively. With her turning hers off first, for all the obvious reasons, of course.

Little did I yet know just how important she actually would be to our eventual mission to find the Crown Princess and to resume our service to our true home system's rulers, among other things that we'd be called to do in our lives. But we still didn't yet know of that mission here. We only knew that we were both somehow called to battle evil beings of whatever sort that might be seeking to take over or destroy Earth in our known Universe. That was all we both knew as of that time, and no more than that, in our respective lives.

We both didn't really know either about the various Sentinels from many places that'd aid us every so often in the future. But we, and at least a few other people, would actually happen to learn about them in due time, if and whenever possible, in our lives. Just not for a while, at least, in fact.

In the meantime, however, we both fell quite soundly asleep in our beds at the times of night that we'd often fall that way in them. Even I did so, for that matter, of course.

* * *

Chapter Three will follow as soon as I can finish writing it well enough, people. Enough said. The Universal Storyteller out. 


	4. Chapter Three:  Slumber Party

Here's Chapter Three. I hope you think it worth your time. Enough said.

* * *

Chapter Three: My First Slumber Party In Japan

About three days later, after school, I went to the library that I'd been heading home from earlier that week when I'd encountered Serizawa-san. Sable went with me, in fact. While we were both still there, we encountered several other people. Among them were several girls who would become generally quite close friends of mine in the future, though neither Sable nor I knew that yet. And neither did any of them, for that matter. Sable and I were still wearing our respective schools' currently-required uniforms, as well.

We were all basically searching for books for us each to read in our lives, if and whenever possible for us in them. Among those girls that I encountered was Ryoko, in fact. Ryoko saw me first, and spoke to me first. She soon asked me, "How are you this afternoon, Hunter-san?"

Both Sable and I, quite obviously enough, turned when she said that, for we'd both had our backs to her when she did so. I soon answered, as Sable watched me, of course, "Hello, Nakane-san. This is my younger sister Sable. Sable, this is Ryoko Serramas Nakane. We met earlier. I believe I told you about our earlier unexpected meeting with each other."

"Yes, I do believe you did so, Chelsea. Pleased to make your acquaintance for the first time in actual physical reality, Ryo-san," said Sable, after briefly looking over Ryoko here. Ryoko was wearing an outfit quite similar to the one that I'd first seen her in before, in fact. She'd changed into it shortly after leaving her school for the day, as we'd later learn, by the way.

"Ryo-san, Sable-chan?" asked Ryoko, as she briefly sent an amused look towards Sable here, which Sable missed quite easily, for Sable's eyes had suddenly shifted to elsewhere in the library.

Sable's brain soon registered Ryoko's just-asked question, and then Sable answered, "I can't exactly use the -chan term for you, because you're older, and I'm smaller than you, so I figured that Ryo-san might be the best way to refer to you here."

"I see. Well, I don't suppose that's too unreasonable here, then, Sable-chan. You can call me that, if you'd like, in the future. I now have this somewhat strange feeling, somehow, that we just might be seeing each other quite a bit in it, for that matter."

"Understood. Ryo-san it is, until you say that I can call you something else, of course," said Sable, as she smiled back at Ryoko here briefly.

"Agreed. Hunter-tachi, would you both perhaps like to meet a few of my friends from elsewhere in Tokyo here, by any chance at all?" Ryoko mainly directed the question at me here, by the way.

I answered, "I don't know, Nakane-san. I don't generally get along well with relative strangers, I think."

Sable said, "Chelsea, take a chance here. You might just like it. You need to get out and about more, you know."

"Fine. If it'll make you happy, Sable, I'll do it. But I don't have to like it, do I?"

"No, I don't suppose so, Chelsea."

"Fine. Let's get this over with here, then, Sable and Nakane-san."

Ryoko soon led me over to where a few of her friends were either sitting near or browsing through several shelves elsewhere in the library. When we all got there well enough, Ryoko eventually said to her friends, "Chinatsu and Eri, these two girls here are Chelsea and Sable Hunter. Chelsea is the older, and Sable the younger, by the way." After she told them who we were, she told us that Chinatsu Arai was the girl mostly in dark green and that Eri Shinozaki was the girl mostly in pink and black.

Eri Shinozaki appeared to be about 5'6" and about 125 pounds, with a somewhat moderate build She was now wearing her junior high school's currently-required uniform for female students. Sable and I soon learned that she attended a school in Edoka-ku, which was a part of Tokyo to the east of Minato-ku here. Her uniform blouse was mainly pink, while her uniform skirt and shoes were mainly black. She also lived near Tokyo Bay in Edoka-ku, for that matter. And she was still twelve years old, having only begun junior high school about six or so weeks before, perhaps.

As for Chinatsu Arai, she was about 5'10" and about 150 pounds, perhaps, with a fairly athletic look to her. She was from still another part of Tokyo called "Shiranai Engoku Seito Tsuki," or "SEST" for short. That part of Tokyo was basically to the southwest of Minato-ku, in it. She lived quite near the border of her part of Tokyo and Minato-ku, by the way. She was now a high school junior of nearly 17 years of age, and she often drove a custom-made car that she'd designed and built primarily, though not entirely, by herself, as well. At the current moment here, though, she was wearing a mostly dark green dress that fell to just about her knees over a pair of navy blue strapped pumps from her high school in the local area. And two mostly dark green bows with rather narrow bits of white lace-like trim were now present in her hair, barely woven into her mostly medium brown hair, which basically fell to a line just past the middle of her shoulders, that also had a few dyed navy blue and medium green streaks in it on the sides of the head near her ears. The bows were somehow woven, wherever they could currently be, into her hair partly inside two braid-like buns near the crown of her head, for that matter.

We all conversed with each other for at least a little while, at a table somewhere in the library, as the mood then struck us to do so here, before Sable said, "We should perhaps start heading home, Chelsea."

I looked at the nearest visible clock, and then said, after seeing that it was now nearly 5:30 in the afternoon, "Perhaps you're right, Sable. Let's go."

"Mind if we continue this present discussion of ours at your place, then, Chelsea-chan?" asked Ryoko, rather suddenly. "I think that we'd all like to get to know you both at least a little bit better, in fact."

"Let me see if my parents don't mind first, please, Nakane-san," I said.

"As you wish, Chelsea-chan," said Ryoko. I then got up from the table that we'd just been sitting at here, and went to the nearest phone that was currently available to the library's patrons. With that now done, I called my parents, for all the obvious reasons here, of course. They soon told me that it was all right for Ryoko and her friends to come to our place in a little while. Especially Father, for he really thought that I needed them to spend some time with me, by the way. I was reluctant to have them do so, but he thought it best that they do just that sort of thing here. So I agreed to let them come to our place for at least a little while, even though I was rather skeptical about how much good such a thing would be for me and for anyone else close enough to me in my life.

Five minutes or so after I got off the aforementioned phone with my parents, then, I came back to our table, and said, "Father and Mother think that you girls should come to our place with Sable and myself. They would like to meet you for a while, if they can."

"Splendid, Chelsea-san," said Ryoko, in very short order. She winked at me as she said that, in fact.

"Sure, I could come along, I suppose, Hunter-tachi," said Eri.

"Chinatsu, do you think that you could bring us to their place well enough if they gave you directions to it?" asked Ryoko.

"I suppose so. But I haven't exactly seen a lot of Minato-ku, you know, Serra-chan," answered Chinatsu, as she and the rest of us began gathering up all our things here.

"I realize that. But you seem to be the only one with a driver's license around here, you know," said Ryoko. "If you weren't, then it'd obviously be another story."

"True enough, Serra-chan. True enough."

Five minutes after I'd returned to our current table somewhere in the library, we each went to the library's check-out area, and saw all of our necessary reading materials checked out as needed by the librarians then on duty there. With that now done, we all soon piled into Chinatsu's vehicle, which currently looked like a van, and left the library behind not too long after that.

No more than about ten to fifteen minutes after we left the library's grounds behind again, then, Chinatsu pulled up outside our house, and parked, once I told her where she'd need to do that. Two minutes later, once she'd done that well enough, she let us all out of her vehicle, of course. Once she was sure that her vehicle would be safe enough from any possible harm at all while she and the other non-Hunters were still at our place, she eventually exited it and locked it as needed here.

But not before she and her two friends had taken all their necessary things out of it, for that matter, did she do that here. Once they all had done so, then, she exited it and locked it here. That done, she soon followed Sable and I into our family's residence.

After about another ten or so minutes of rather brief conversation between them, my parents, Sable, and myself, then, Father and all four of my brothers soon left the house here so that it'd be possible for a slumber party to be had by all of us girls here, as earlier planned. They all quickly decided to spend the night at the residence of family friends of ours in the local area, once Mother suggested the idea to them all here. By 6:15 or so, then, at the very latest, not a single human male remained in our family's residence, in fact.

So there were now eight human females present in our family's residence, of course. Sable and I soon showed Ryoko and her friends at least a little bit of our family's residence, though not all of it. And after we did, Ryoko and her friends eventually decided to sleep in our room with us, in sleeping bags on the floor. It was, in fact, their mutual habit to often have slumber parties with each other in their lives, at their various residences in the Tokyo metropolitan area. If and whenever they possibly could do so, anyway. And their usual slumber parties were held on Friday evenings and/or nights, for that matter.

This unexpected slumber party of ours at our family's residence would be the first of many, perhaps, with any and/or all of them for Sable and myself. But we really didn't know that yet here, for all the obvious reasons, of course. In due time we'd come to know that, but just not yet, seeing as we didn't really know much about each other yet.

We all shared some supper that Mother made for us all around 8 in the evening. Before then, during supper, and after supper, we all continued to get to know each other at least a little bit better, if not a lot better. That was if we didn't already know each other well enough in our respective lives, of course. After we all tired of doing that well enough in our family's living room area, Mother, Gabrielle, and Odemyla eventually went to bed here. That soon left Sable and I alone with our three guests here. We conversed with each other just a little bit more before heading to my and Sable's bedroom, when the need or desire arose for us all to do so here.

Sable and I made sufficient amounts of space for them each to sleep in on our bedroom's floor in very short order, while they waited outside our door briefly or changed into some sleeping attire for themselves that they'd brought to our place with themselves. When there was enough space for them to put their things in on our floor, we let them into our room here, of course.

By 9:30, we were all in there well enough, in fact. And we had decided to try to create a round-robin story of our own, for that matter. After we did, I went to my desk and took two videotape camcorders and three blank videotapes out of three fairly good-sized drawers in it. One for each of the camcorders, and one for all three tapes. I then went to my closet and took out two tripods for those camcorders to sit on. As well as a third camcorder and a tripod from there. I soon set up, with Sable's help, all three camcorders in various locations in the room, as now needed.

When they were all set up as needed, then, we placed the necessary tapes in them, and joined everyone else on or near the floor of our bedroom, before using three remotes to start the camcorders' recording of our story-telling session here. We rolled a pair of dice to see who'd start telling the story first, and Chinatsu rolled an 11, to beat the rest of us here. At least temporarily, anyway.

So she started, and she started as follows:

* * *

"Long ago, on a bridge commonly known as 'The Dreamer's Bridge,' two people from different worlds first met each other in their lives. It was in the times of the King of Talgrefon, King Josiah, when they did so, and one of those people was from a neighboring world named Ohamor, while the other was from Talgrefon's world of Tatharo. They had never even heard of each other in their lives before, but they would most certainly hear of and see each other for the rest of their lives in the future, if and whenever possible. 

"The one from Ohamor was the young woman, while the one from Tatharo was the young man. The Ohamorian was about 5'4" and 120 pounds, with roughly waist-length purple hair that she normally wore completely unbound, whenever she possibly could. And she was in a similarly-colored gown that fell to a few inches just below her knees when she first encountered the young Tatharon man. She was alone, and leaning over the bridge's railing, looking at the then-calm river below it a bit here, when she first encountered him on the bridge. Her name was Etaica, and she was the Crown Princess of her world's most powerful nation. She was out on a rare outing by herself from several of her society's people that were also on Tatharo with her on a diplomatic mission to Talgrefon, which was Tatharo's most powerful nation.

"The young man's name was Hatabai, and he was the Crown Prince of his own nation on Tatharo. He was about 6'2" and about 165 pounds, more or less, when he first encountered her on that bridge near his land's primary ruling palace, in fact. He was then wearing a mostly red and blue suit of armor that bore his personal heraldic design over his moderately-muscled body. He appeared to be about 14 or so years of age, more or less. He had mostly black hair streaked with a little bit of cardinal red on the top of his head, when he first saw her here. In his hands at the time, he also was reading a scroll as he walked onto that bridge where she then was. When he saw her, he soon stashed away that scroll somewhere inside his fairly well-fitting suit of armor, but still within easy reach, if needed here.

"He soon asked, 'Hello, young lady. Are you lost?' He then leaned against the same railing as she was presently leaning against, as he waited for her answer, and began to study her at least a little bit.

"She answered, while still not looking at him, 'I don't think so. My friends told me of this place, and I decided to see if it was as beautiful as they thought it was when they came here a little while ago to this land with me, young man.' She then asked, after turning to face him and look him over at least a little bit, 'Who are you, and why are you here?'

"He soon said, 'I am Crown Prince Hatabai, and I was heading elsewhere in this general area of my land, but not here. However, you're here, and I don't recognize you as being from anywhere in my land, by the way. You seem to be from another place far from here."

"She looked him over at least a little bit, as he finished looking her over, as well. Then she asked, 'I am Crown Princess Etaica, from the land of Okataya. I am here with several other people on a diplomatic mission to your land. And you are how old?'

"Roughly 14 or so years old, perhaps. And you?"

"Roughly 11, perhaps?"

"I see. And how many are with you now on this mission?"

"I can't tell you. But I am still with quite a few other people on this mission of ours to your land, Crown Prince Hatabai."

"They talked for quite a while longer, and at least until three moons set in the skies above their heads, if not even longer than that. One of them was the world that Etaica came from, but two weren't. The other two moons besides Ohamor in those skies were Garama and Atabava, and they also currently had delegations to Talgrefon here as well, for that matter."

* * *

Chinatsu continued the story in question for at least a little while longer, before passing it off to Ryoko, when she left Hatabai and Etaica on a sailing ship near the port of Grebatyr elsewhere in Talgrefon. Ryoko brought a few more characters into the story, before turning it over to Eri. Eri continued the story from where Ryoko left most of the characters at a ball held in the Dreamweaver Palace not far from the bridge where Etaica and Hatabai had first met each other in their lives. 

Eri continued telling the story from about 11:30 pm local time on Friday night to about 12:20 or so on Saturday morning. Eri was the last to tell more of the story before the assembled girls, including myself, of course, decided to have the story stop until it could be resumed later, for we were all starting to get somewhat tired at the present time. So we all agreed that it'd be best if that was the case for us all here. Sable and I soon turned off all the necessary camcorders as needed, and put them wherever necessary elsewhere in our room.

By 12:45, all of us were quite soundly asleep in our respective beds or sleeping bags, in fact. Even me, by the way. We'd all not wake again, perhaps, until at least 7 in the morning, if not even later than that, from them all. At least in my case, anyway.

* * *

We each slept until about 7:15 or so in the morning of Saturday, October 13, 2007. Sable was the first of us to wake up in our beds or bags, and then she woke me up, not more than about 10 minutes after that time. By this time, Mother was already in our family's kitchen/dining room area, and making pancakes for us all to have here. The smells of food cooking soon woke up our guests, and they were all up by 8 in the morning. 

By 8:30, all our guests were dressed again, and in our family's kitchen/dining room area, as well. Even Eri, for that matter, was there by then. Eri now had on a pink blouse and blue jeans that she'd brought along with her to our place for an impromptu slumber party, as well as a pair of red and white house slippers. Her favorite color was pink, followed closely by both red and white, in her life. I didn't know it yet at the time, but her Scout colors would be pink, red, and white. And that she'd represent still another planet in a far-away solar system for our Scout group.

Eri's hair was mostly blonde shading somewhat gradually to pink and silver in a mostly short near-crewcut, at least on the top, but not on the sides and back of her head, as of the present time. The sides of her head now featured two medium-sized Japanese fan-like cuts near either of her ears. While the back of her head now featured four somewhat small multi-heart-shaped connected parts to a single good-sized braid that generally fell to about the middle of her back, more or less, from the back of her head, whenever it was worn totally unbound, in her life. She'd quite often wear pink and/or red bows and/or hairbands in her somewhat wavy hair whenever she could do so for a long enough time in it. She'd even been known to often weave into her own hair assorted jewelry-related items of varying sizes and shapes, whenever the mood ever struck her to do that in it, somehow, for that matter.

Eri's often-teasing eyes were normally the approximate color of blueberries, basically, whenever she wasn't angry with anyone or anything in her life, by the way. When she was, however, those eyes of hers would start to heat up, and become more reddish in their natures, as she then might ever get angrier with anyone or anything in it. And those normally bluish-purple eyes of hers looked almost almond-shaped, though not entirely. At least in terms of the usually-visible parts of either eye for herself.

Her most commonly-seen articles of clothing were quite often at least a little unusual and/or a little artistic in their respective natures, with a mostly pink, red, silver, and/or white color scheme to them. Eri was also the only daughter and oldest child of her parents, by about four years over her brother, at least as of the current time in her life.

Eri was quite into dancing, gymnastics, and volleyball, but not so much into computers or certain things of a more mechanical nature. Her favorite subject in school was Physical Education, while her least favorite subjects were classes of some sort of mathematical or industry-related nature. Eri did moderately well in most of her classes, more often than not, and she'd generally receive low-B-range or high-C-range grades in them. In her Physical Education classes, she'd generally do at least two-thirds of a grade better than she normally would in most of her other classes, and in her least favorite classes, she'd generally average close to low-C-range or high-D-range grades for them. She hoped to be some sort of athletic coach in the future, if she wasn't actually a professional athlete of some yet-unknown sort in it. But she still had nearly six more years of high school before she could even seriously consider going into such occupations for possible livings, for all the obvious reasons here, of course.

As for Chinatsu, besides her hobby of custom car designing/building, other current interests of hers included singing, coin collecting, stamp collecting, and gardening, to name just a few of them. She'd often be found wearing either a mechanic's or a gardener's outfit whenever she wasn't attending school in her life. But not always, quite obviously enough, in it. Her favorite colors to wear were ones that she basically wore in her hair, for that matter. Sports interested her as well, to at least some degree, though not necessarily as much as they did Eri, in her life. Chinatsu's favorite sport was golf, followed closely by tennis.

Chinatsu was a really good student, and normally averaged grades in the low-A-range to high-B-range, for her various classes. She was best in foreign language and music classes, as well as some science-style classes. Her weakest classes were ones that primarily dealt with more domestic-type things. Her cooking ability, typically, wasn't quite as good as she might generally want it to be, for instance, but she still did her best in those types of things, by the way, in her life, if and whenever possible. She might be able to heat up certain things well enough, at least, but many other culinary-related items were perhaps beyond her current abilities in it, whether or not they'd always remain so in it.

Chinatsu soon asked Mother for three blackberry pancakes. Mother was making pancakes with assorted berries in them, mainly, though not always, when we each appeared in the kitchen/dining room again. Mother gladly agreed to make her some, the next time she poured out some batter onto the skillet that she was now using where needed. A few minutes later, as Sable put some maple syrup and butter on our table here, Mother brought Chinatsu the requested pancakes. After Chinatsu received her requested pancakes, Mother gave Eri some blueberry ones which Eri herself had requested a little while before.

Several made platefuls of pancakes later, we were joined in the kitchen/dining room by Gabrielle, who'd woken up at her usual Saturday morning waking-up time of 9 am. Gabrielle didn't want any pancakes, so she chose some cereal for herself. Most specifically, Gabrielle chose some raisin bran for herself here.

When all of us who were now up here had gotten all the food and drink that we then wanted here, Mother turned off the skillet, and anything else she needed to turn off now. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons. Odemyla was still in bed, and she wouldn't likely be up again until at least 10 or so in the morning, in fact. If that.

After we'd all gotten our desired food and drink here for ourselves as needed or desired, Mother soon asked, "Arai-san, did you generally design and make that vehicle of yours outside our house?"

"Yes, I did. At least mostly, anyway, Hunter-san the mother. I had some help with designing and making it, by the way. But I did most of the work for it myself, and it generally took me just about six months or so to do so sufficiently well, if I remember such things well enough about it here," answered Chinatsu. We all soon began to eat and drink our various breakfast-related items here, of course.

"Is the van mode the only mode that it can currently be in, Chi-chan?" asked Ryoko.

"No, as a matter of fact, it isn't. It can also be in a convertible/limousine form, a mecha form, a boat form, and a sedan form, at least, depending on what mode I choose to use it in. That is the case, at least occasionally, for each of those other modes, anyway. If not even more frequently for any or all of those other modes of use. I may eventually be able to sufficiently enough upgrade its present abilities to permit the later use of various other yet-unconceived and yet-uncreated equipment that might prove useful enough to me in the future. But I haven't yet been able to do that well enough to suit me in the future, Serra-chan," said Chinatsu.

Gabrielle eventually asked, just about five or ten minutes later, at most, "Do you really want to be a major car designer and/or car maker in the future, if at all possible, by any chance, Arai-san?"

"Yes, I think I might possibly like that. But technology will most likely have to advance at least to a considerable enough degree in order for people to perhaps mass-produce the kinds of motor vehicles that might be needed in the future, and which I might want to see designed and produced in it, if they aren't already. Right now, most of the world's motor vehicles are highly, if not entirely, dependent on petroleum. As a result, most of the world's people often have quite high costs to pay in terms of fuel and other related items to those vehicles of theirs. I am hoping that eventually, most, if not all, of the world's motor vehicles will primarily, if not always, use technology that doesn't require the use of considerable amounts of petroleum to operate them efficiently enough, Gabrielle-chan."

"Why do you hope this, Arai-san?" I soon asked, in between bites of some pancakes I was still eating here. And between two sips of some chocolate milk, for that matter..

"Because I think that many, if not most or all, of the larger deposits of remaining petroleum in this world are present in countries with terrorists, dictators, and/or virtually-absolute monarchs in them. For example, I believe that there are rather large deposits of petroleum in countries such as Iran or Saudi Arabia, and they're currently ruled over by such people. The world is perhaps one major conflict away from total chaos in terms of the demand for oil in it. Many countries' economies are largely, if not entirely, dependent on receiving foreign oil. Countries such as the United States, if I'm not too mistaken about your birth country here. Am I right, Chelsea, by any chance?"

After I swallowed my current sip of milk and took another bite of my pancakes, "I believe when we Hunters were all last in the United States with each other, quite some time ago, the average price of a gallon of gas was somewhere in the range of $2.40 apiece, if not more. From what I've heard, due to assorted runs on gas elsewhere in the country, after a hurricane named Britney knocked out many, if not most, of our Gulf Coast oil refineries, just about three months or so ago, the average price of a gallon of gas was somewhere around $3.30 apiece. That's perhaps the last I've heard about them, at least up to now, Arai-san. We lost several dozen major oil refineries to the effects of Hurricane Britney, if I remember such things well enough here. I don't really know what the current average price of a gallon of gas is in our particular part of the United States. But I suppose that it's at least a little bit higher than that now, for all the obvious reasons."

"Of course, with fewer sufficiently active oil refineries of whatever kind or kinds, your own nation's economy must have taken a quite major hit from the effects of Hurricane Britney, I suppose. At least at that time, if it's not still doing so, anyway, Chelsea," Chinatsu eventually said. "Are your nation's people currently trying to often come up with assorted other forms of vehicle-related energy production and usability, at least as far as you know?"

"Of course they are. But the wide-spread use of solar power, hydrogen fuel cells, and ethanol, at least, is perhaps at least a few years away from somehow becoming actual social reality in this world of ours. If not even longer than that, I think. At least in our country, if not also anywhere else in this world, for that matter. Until then, whatever countries there might be who are currently quite opposed to us in this world of ours will still continue to be able to have considerable economic power, at least, over us. If not any other conceivable kind or kinds of power as well. The insane terrorists are often sitting on considerably large deposits of oil, I believe. And just because they're opposing the civilized world as they now are, they're now quite fully intent on either crippling us economically or destroying those of us totally who aren't willing to follow their rather extreme belief systems as well, if they possibly can. They apparently feel it's quite necessary and quite possible for them to somehow manage to do either of those things or both of those things, mind you. They're quite fully intent on somehow taking over the whole world in whatever way or ways they possibly can, no matter who they might have to roll over in order to do it, it seems. Certain countries like Israel, for example, are in great, if not mortal, danger, as long as those various terrorists, dictators, and/or virtually-absolute monarchs are most likely sitting on some rather large deposits of oil, at least, Arai-san."

"What about Israel, Chelsea?" asked Eri.

"Israel is the Chosen Land of God, Eri-chan. But most, if not all, of the other nations in this world would rather see it no longer actually present on it. At the current time in its history, Israel has very few, if any, sufficient enough allies in this world of ours. Most of the world is currently trying as hard as they possibly to get Israel to give up his entire land to the Arabs and to the terrorists. Even some people in our own nation's government are foolishly trying to get Israel to give up his land to them. Those people aren't actually as many as those people who'd rather see Israel and his land continue to exist forever, I believe. But they're generally much more-publicized than those people who don't want to see Israel conquered or destroyed. I don't know yet if what I'm about to suggest here is 100 percent true, of course. Supposing I ever will, somehow, that is. But I really wouldn't be all that surprised if we got hit with Hurricane Britney when we did just because at least some, if not many or most, of our high-ranking United States governmental officials were recently pushing Israel to quickly give up complete control of Gaza and/or part of the so-called West Bank Occupied Territories to the terrorists and to the Arabs that are currently seeking to destroy or conquer Israel. That land belongs to Israel, by God's decree, now and forever. The Arabs lost it about forty years or so ago, more or less, and it most certainly is meant to remain in Israelite hands forever. Especially in terms of Jerusalem. That very same city is NEVER to be divided again, for any possible reason whatsoever, in any way, shape, or form between two or more mortal entities. Not now, and not ever! And neither is the Holy Land, by the way."

"Why do you believe that, Chelsea?" asked Ryoko. Everyone except for Eri and myself then finished their remaining food and drink as Ryoko asked me this here, in fact.

"Because the Bible says, in Joel 3:2, I believe, in the New International Version of the Bible, something along the lines of, 'I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgement against them considering My people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up My Land.' God was speaking then, through the prophet Joel, Nakane-san. Any nation on the face of the Earth that divides up Israel, or tries to get Israel to relinquish control of it, will come into judgement. Even nations such as the United States will come into judgement, if they do that. Genesis 12:3 says, in that same Bible version, from God to Abram, 'I will bless those that bless you, and whoever curses you, I will curse; and all peoples on Earth will be blessed through you.' God had not yet changed Abram's name to Abraham, by the way. Later on, He did. But not at that time. God had told Abram to leave virtually everything he knew behind in Ur in order to go to Canaan with his people and current possessions. Canaan eventually became Israel, in the passage of time. Abram became Abraham after God promised him and his wife a son named Isaac," I said.

"Then what happened?" asked Eri, once she'd finished all her food and drink here well enough.

"The year after Abram became Abraham, Isaac arrived, Eri-chan. This was long after Lot and Abram separated, mind you, from each other to establish themselves and their people in separate areas of Canaan. Lot chose his people's territory unwisely, after Abram let him choose from two areas of land they were then near. After Lot chose, Abram received the territory that Lot hadn't chosen from God, as far as he could see, for his own descendants forever. That land became, and will eventually be, Israel. If it isn't currently under Israelite control, it will be, most definitely. Ishmael, even though he was the descendant of Abram as well, was not meant to occupy that land forever. For Ishmael's mother was the maidservant of Abram's wife. Not his primary wife, but only a secondary one, if that. The laws of inheritance at that time passed property to the oldest legal descendant of a man, when possible. In the case of Ishmael and Isaac, Isaac won out, in that particular regard, and assumed the promise that God made to his father Abram, also known as Abraham, when the time came for him to do that." I finished the rest of my food and drink here, and moved to the nearest sink with my dirty dishes, et cetera, before placing them gently into it. Everyone else then with me in the kitchen/dining room did the same, in very short order, if they hadn't already done so by now, in fact.

We all moved to the living room, once we'd all taken care of whatever we then needed to do in the kitchen/dining room area. We all soon took seats there, if and wherever we then could do so well enough. Mother brought out a version of the Bible with English and Japanese text printed in it at the same time, by the way, and then handed it to me here, once everyone else was seated in our living room well enough. She did that because I was the oldest Hunter child then present here, in fact. It was now a virtually-unbreakable rule in our family that the oldest present such child would read from the Bible or lead a discussion of various Bible-related matters after breakfast on Saturday mornings. Because I was the oldest such child then present here, Mother handed me that Bible here.

I continued, in very short order, "In the passage of time, Isaac married a woman named Rebekah sometime before Abraham's death. Some time later on, Rebekah was with child. Not one child, but two children, in fact. While they were both still in the womb, Rebekah wondered why both children were fighting with each other in it. She asked the LORD why, and He said, according to Genesis 25:23, 'Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.' When the time for both babies came to be born, the first-born was Esau, and the second-born, while still holding onto Esau's heel, was Jacob. Jacob eventually became known as Israel after he had to run away to avoid his brother's wrath when Isaac, before his own death, blessed him instead of Esau as Esau had expected him to do. By this time, Esau had already sold his birthright for a bowl of pottage, which is basically a soup of some sort. Jacob had to run away in order to save his own life, after getting his father's blessing for the future. In time, Jacob came to his mother's people for a very long time. Many years later, Jacob had fathered twelve sons, by four women, which eventually became the heads of tribes of Israel. It was a very long time indeed before he could return to the land of his fathers Abraham and Isaac. Eventually, the need arose for him to return home to Canaan. Before he was to meet up with Esau again for the first time in many long years, he actually wrestled with God, until God changed his name and blessed him. Or at least an angel, I think, if not God Himself. Jacob's name to God, at least, became Israel, after that happened. Hence the current name of his still-living descendants' nation in our world."

"I see, Chelsea," said Sable, who actually hadn't said much, if anything at all, for quite some length of time here. "I always wondered why there was a people once known as Israelites, if they're not still actually known as that now."

"Yes, Sable. That is exactly why they're called that. Or at least they were, anyway," I said, as I smiled briefly at her here.

"But why are many people called Jews, then?" asked Gabrielle of me.

"Gabrielle, the term 'Jews' most likely comes from the Israelite tribe of Judah, one of Jacob/Israel's sons, after the Fall of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. You see, Judah is the primary chosen ruling tribe for the Children of Israel. It has been ever since the days of King David, at least, if not even longer than that, when he himself eventually succeeded King Saul on the throne of Israel. King David was from the Israelite tribe of Judah. And it'll still continue to be for all eternity yet to come, by the way. Jesus Christ was, is, and always will be, most certainly a Jew, descended from King David, in fact. And every single word of the Holy Bible was written down by Jewish hands, for that matter. Not by Gentiles such as ourselves."

"Okay, I think I understand you well enough. 'Jews' comes from Judah. Do you think 'Judaism' does too, Chelsea?" asked Gabrielle.

"I think so, but I'm not totally sure of that. I mean, the terms are obviously quite similar in their natures, you know. But I don't know if they come from the exact same root word in Biblical Hebrew, for that matter, Gabrielle. I'm not totally fluent in Hebrew in my life. Either of that kind or of the modern kind, by the way."

We continued our Bible-related discussion until just about 11:30 or so in the morning of Saturday, October 13, 2007, only ending it completely after Chinatsu said, "Hunter-tachi, it's getting to be the time that we usually leave the residences of those people who we hold our slumber parties with. I hope you all won't mind us leaving you now too much, in fact."

"No, it's no problem to us, Arai-san. Right, girls?" Mother asked of Gabrielle, Sable, Odemyla, and me, in very short order.

I looked briefly at my sisters and Mother, before speaking for us all here, "No, it's no problem for any of us, Mother. Besides, I suppose I have other things that I generally do around this time on Saturdays, anyway. If they wish to leave us here and now, I see no reason at all why they can't actually do so, in fact."

"Very well, then, it's agreed," Mother said. She looked at each of our guests for a while, and then said, "You're welcome to come here at any reasonable time from now on, Arai-tachi."

"Thank you, Hunter-san the mother," Chinatsu eventually said. With that said, then, our guests soon returned to my and Sable's room and gathered up all their things here, of course. They didn't take very long at all to do just that, and they were completely gone from our house's premises by 11:45 in the morning, at the very latest, in fact.

After they were all gone well enough from the premises, Mother soon asked me, "Are you going to the library again today, by any chance?"

"No, I don't think so, Mother. I think I'm going to go walking elsewhere for a while. Perhaps with Sable, if she won't mind doing so with me here and now."

"When do you expect to be back, then, Chelsea?" asked Mother.

"Perhaps not until 4, at least, if not even longer than that. By the time we get back, the boys should be back here as well. I want to spend some time alone with Sable for a while, if I can, by the way, Mother."

"Very well. Then please be careful and all that, of course, if you do that with her, Chelsea."

By local noon, then, Sable and I were walking elsewhere in Azabu Juuban. We even went shopping for a while at assorted stores in it. Among those stores we shopped at was a bookstore that I'd often seen fit to patronize since moving to Japan with my family, in fact. This bookstore was the main place where I got my various inspirational romance-type books, if I didn't actually happen to borrow them from various libraries anywhere in the local area of Tokyo, Japan, by the way.

When we got there, several of the bookstore's regular patrons soon saw me and Sable enter the store with each other. They soon greeted us both fairly warmly, including the owners' genetically-identical twin nieces Mary and Martha. Yes, I did say "Mary and Martha," for their twin mother had been born in Canada, before eventually marrying the identical twin brother of the store's male owner. That simple fact influenced the choices of names for at least two of her children, if not more, by the way. Mary and Martha were both fairly well-known to me, and vice versa. However, Sable hadn't actually been here in this bookstore before, so I quickly introduced her to several of the store's regular patrons. Including Mary and Martha, of course.

I'd known Mary and Martha since meeting them both roughly three or four days after we'd all arrived here in Japan. They and I had rather unexpectedly encountered each other in a small city-owned park elsewhere in Azabu Juuban, and we had become fairly fast friends with each other.. But they both never came over to our place, or vice versa, for any slumber parties or that sort of thing. For their parents generally preferred that they'd be at home whenever they weren't generally required to be elsewhere in the Tokyo local area for any reason whatsoever. They were both watched rather closely, wherever possible, for their own mutual good, so that they'd both hopefully be at least quite a bit safer than most Japan-living children might be from any possible harm that might arise for anyone in that specific part of Japan. Mary and Martha accepted that, for they most definitely knew that their parents wanted only the best for them in their respective lives. So they didn't generally object to their parents' current rules for them in those lives of theirs, seeing as they were still only 15 years of age, more or less, in them both.

Mary and Martha were in the school grade just ahead of me, for that matter. And they also attended my future school of Juuban Senior High School. Or at least the school that I'd most likely be going into once I got out of my current school, anyway. Both were brown-haired, but where Mary's hair fell mainly to her waist, Martha had chosen to wear it at about shoulder-length, more or less. Mary was then mostly in orange and green, while Martha was mostly in maroon and yellow. Mary was wearing an orange blouse, medium green knee-length skirt, and black business-style shoes, while Martha was wearing a mostly maroon full-body suit with mostly yellow trim and decorations on that suit over a pair of mostly maroon tennis shoes.

Martha was roughly two inches taller and about thirty pounds heavier than her genetically-identical twin sister was now. The main reason, if not the only reason, why they now looked quite different from each other was because of them having different personalities and interests. They'd grown up together, of course, and had generally been free to explore their world as they saw fit, within fair enough and logical enough reason. And while they generally liked being twins of each other, their desires for individuality generally prevailed for them both. Hence their current looks in their respective lives. Also, Martha was better able to maintain a higher weight than her fifteen minutes-older twin sister was. While Mary was about 5'6" and about 110 pounds, Martha was about 5'8" and about 140 pounds. Mary wanted to be at least a little taller and a little bit heavier, in fact. But to this point, at least, in her life, she wasn't that way, if she ever would be in it.

Mary and Martha had both been born to a Japanese father and a Canadian mother in Osaka, Japan, in March of 1992. Eventually they moved with their extended family to the Tokyo local area, and settled in Azabu Juuban, where they now lived with their extended family in an apartment building owned by their parents and several other people, including several of their uncles and their aunts. Their apartment building was a few blocks away from the bookstore that Sable and I were now in with them, by the way.

After the necessary introductions were made by me for Sable, Mary, and Martha's mutual benefit here, at least, Mary eventually asked me, with a brief grin on her face as she did so, "Chelsea, are you here for more inspirational romance-type books, perhaps?"

"As a matter of fact, Mary, that's one reason why I'm here now. Another reason I'm here is that I want to stock up on some more theology-related books and things, if I can. You and Martha should know quite well enough by now just what I'm talking about here, I think."

"True enough, I suppose. My Uncle Yoshiro and Aunt Tamara just got in a bunch of such supplies a few days or so ago, by the way," said Mary.

"That's good, of course, Mary. It shouldn't be too much of a problem for me to get them, then, right?"

"Many of those supplies haven't yet been unpacked from where they were dropped off here in the store's stockroom, it seems to me, Chelsea," said Mary.

Sable asked, "When might they be, Mary?"

"Perhaps by the end of the weekend, Martha and I think, Sable," answered Mary.

"Then perhaps we should come back later, when they are?" I asked.

"That would be quite logical, wouldn't you think, Chelsea?" asked Martha.

"I suppose so, Martha. What do you have out at present, in the meantime, then?"

"Several shelves full of many items of varying sizes and shapes. Most of them books, of course, Chelsea," answered Martha, as she led Sable and I to one of the other parts of the store. Specifically to a part of it where the majority of the inspirational romance-type books were generally kept, if and whenever possible, in fact. After she did, Sable and I browsed for a while, before I briefly looked in my purse to see how much money I still had with me at that time. I saw I had enough money with me to perhaps buy several such books and a few other books elsewhere in the store, before I'd have to wait on certain other reading materials for a while. I didn't really want to spend all my money on this current shopping excursion with Sable here in this particular store, for all the obvious reasons, by the way.

After we eventually left _The Messenger's Emporium_, for that was what the bookstore's name was in English, we both shopped elsewhere in the general area that we were now in here. Among the various other stores that we went to were a clothing store, a pet store, and a music store, in fact. By the time that we finished browsing and shopping with each other for at least a few hours together, and returned home again, it was nearly 4 in the afternoon. We walked in the front door of our family's current residence about five minutes before that time of day, with several bags in our hands from our shopping expedition that very day.

When we came in the front door, we submitted to the usual search of our purchases by both our parents, for all four of our brothers had come back home with Father while we'd still been out and about on the current day here. Father and Mother saw nothing objectionable enough about them at all, if even a little bit at all, so we soon took all our purchases right to our room, once they let us do so here, of course. After we both arrived there sufficiently well, then, Sable and I soon began putting them all away wherever we needed or wanted to in our room, for that matter.

Among those things that we'd earlier bought were seven watches with rather different patterns set into the inside of each watch's top cover. Or at least they appeared to be just simple watches, anyway. In actual reality, they were all more than just simple watches. They all were also communicators of an unknown sort, for some yet-unknown reason. And they also had still various other capabilities that we didn't yet know about in our lives, but that we'd eventually learn, when the need arose for us to do just that, somehow, in fact. Not only us, but others who'd be using them as well, for that matter.

Sable and I looked over all seven of those watches, with a fairly close inspection. And we eventually chose two of them for ourselves to actually use in the future, if and whenever possible, by the way. The others, we hid away inside several plants elsewhere in our shared bedroom, wherever those plants might then be in it, for they didn't have our current Sailor Scout-type symbols inside their respective top cases. We hid our brand-new watches temporarily on our own persons. But we'd eventually have to find a much better place to hide them both if and whenever necessary, somehow, for all the obvious reasons. No matter where that place might just be in our own lives.

A few hours later, at most, we quite gladly had supper here with our parents and siblings. We both soon helped them all clean up after it, et cetera, before mutually heading back to our own bedroom for what we hoped would be the rest of the night. We were both back in it again by 8:45, and resumed our most recent conversation with each other in our lives. She and I stayed up together with each other until just about 9:30, more or less. I myself remained awake in it until just before 11:30 at night. I drifted off to sleep quite soon after that very time, by the way. By 11:45 pm local time, I was just about to fall quite soundly asleep, as was quite usual for me in my own life. Ten minutes later, at most, I was quite soundly asleep here, and entered one of the countless lands of dreams in the Universe, if not more than one, of course. And so I slept.

* * *

Chapter Four will follow as soon as I can finish writing it well enough, people. Enough said. The Universal Storyteller out. 


	5. Chapter Four:  Straight Talk

Here's Chapter Four. I hope you think it worth your time. This chapter of the story will often, though not entirely, mention various things of a rather mature nature indeed, people, so please be forewarned. Enough said.

* * *

Chapter Four: Straight Talk

The following Monday, after school, I saw Hatargo again, on my way back home from it. When we were in a safe enough place for us to converse with each other again, I soon asked him, "Where've you been for the past few days, at least, Hatargo?"

"Looking for future Scouts, among other things and people, Chelsea. I haven't found any new ones since we last saw each other, though."

"Where have you been staying the nights, then?" I asked, while also leaning against a mostly-brick wall in a rather deserted alley between two random buildings between my home and my school.

"Wherever I can find sufficient enough shelter in the local area, generally. I've basically been hiding out during the daylight hours, for all the obvious reasons, Chelsea. I have, however, found out while exploring the local area that the Negaverse's operations are being headed currently by a General named 'Jatal,' for your information. General Jatal sent the monsters that you, the young man, and/or Sable have battled so far here. It also seems that the first monster that they sent to this city's local area was called 'Matagai,' if I remember things well enough here, for that matter."

"I see." Just as I said that, a few screams suddenly pierced the relative silence of the area immediately around us. "Oh, great. Another Negaverse attack around here, it seems. I suppose I'd best get to work here, then, of course. Get Sable here as soon as you can, Hatargo."

As he immediately left, I then said the necessary three words. And seconds later, at most, I was once again Sailor Oshimuke. I soon reached a nearby street to where we'd both been temporarily hiding, and threw several rocks at a rather good-sized monster to get their attention off the people they were now in the process of trying to drain for their energies here. That monster turned almost immediately away from them, and began fighting me here. As they did, I shouted to those people who were still sufficiently conscious here to run away, and take all the other people that they could out of the immediate area of this battle as well, of course. Many such people immediately obeyed my orders here, for all the obvious reasons, quite naturally enough.

The monster tried to keep them all from doing that well enough now. But I somehow kept them from doing so well enough here, simply by forcing Tayafushi to go after me instead of them, through the use of my "Bible Recitation" attack, for at least a little while, if not a long while. Somehow, I managed to hold them off well enough to allow many of the civilians to get away before Sentinel Tunka and Sailor Gosedei arrived in the area. But they didn't arrive together, for Hatargo didn't yet know where Sentinel Tunka now lived in his civilian life. He was able to get Sable, however, because he knew where she and I lived, in fact.

Sable had actually powered herself up to her Sailor Gosedei state on her and Hatargo's way here, by the way. When she was finally within a sufficient enough range to launch her present attack here, Sentinel Tunka and I were now battling a half-robotic, half-serpent monster of some yet-unknown Negaverse sort. Sailor Gosedei quickly assessed the current situation, before suddenly launching her "Gosedei Ice Flood" attack without even an introductory speech of some sort upon her arrival here. Tayafushi was partly able to avoid being restrained by it, but not totally. So Gosedei sent a few more of those kind of attacks towards her, hoping to make it more possible for us to defeat her.

Tunka continued sending his roses and quills around where Tayafushi was partly trapped, hoping to buy Gosedei and I more time to completely trap and finish her, as well. I continued to bombard her with more of my "Bible Recitation" attacks as often as I could possibly think of verses that might allow us to defeat her in battle. Eventually, Gosedei was somehow able to finish restraining her well enough, including the necessary cork of the exact same nature as the one that she'd woven in order to finish trapping Tataltaka in her temporary prison of a sort. That done, Tunka and I combined our attacks once more here, and I destroyed Tayafushi before she could stop me from doing so here, of course.

Five minutes later, then, at most, we were all gone from the battle's location, as most, if not all, of the energy that Tayafushi had been trying to gather for the Negaverse's later use somehow returned to all of the people that it'd been taken from before we'd actually interrupted its collection as we had. Even Sentinel Tunka was gone within that very short length of time, and Hatargo took Sable and I both home as we powered down on the way back there.

We all somehow managed to vacate that area well enough before the local media outlets were able to send anyone there to cover the battle easily enough. And we arrived home not too much later, after Hatargo suddenly dropped us both off about a block or so away from our home in the local area, in fact. By that time, it was nearly 5:15 in the afternoon. Sable and I soon headed to our bedroom again, but not before briefly stopping off in the kitchen/dining room area for a bit of food and drink for ourselves. By 5:30, then, we were both in our bedroom again, and behind a quite securely-locked door, for that matter.

Once we were quite sure that we'd not be disturbed at least for a good while, then, Sable eventually asked, "How was your day at school, Chelsea?"

"Fine, Sable. At least for the most part, anyway. I read from one of my most recently-written fictional short stories in my English 9 class today. I read from a roughly 30-page story about a few people that was set just after the official end of the American Revolutionary War to my classmates and my teacher in it. Roughly 30 pages, more or less, basically, though not entirely, in American English, that is. I'm not exactly sure just how long the Japanese-language version of the story is, right off-hand, though. They all generally liked it, it seems to me. I don't know yet just what kind of school grade I'll ultimately get on it. But I really hope to get a very good one on it, of course. I gave my teacher a Japanese-language version of the short story as well, for the obvious reasons, even though I didn't actually have to here." I decided to drop my backpack near my bed for the time being, at least, while I also lay on top of it for a while.

Sable soon took out her assorted quilting supplies and looked through various other patches she'd earlier made, but which she hadn't yet attached to the quilt I'd seen her working on at least once or twice before the present time here. Three quite unique patches were quite completely sewn, wherever they were needed and/or desired for her, onto that quilt's top surface by now, by the way. I didn't see any of the designs on each future patch for the quilt yet, but I knew that I'd do so whenever she decided to reveal just which ones they were. I didn't see them yet, for their faces weren't currently visible to me. She eventually chose one to sew onto the quilt, and then put the others all back just where she'd gotten them all from. She placed the now-chosen patch just where she then wanted the quilt's newest patch to be, and began sewing that patch onto the quilt just like she'd done with the other three patches now on it, in a rather easy manner, as well.

Ten minutes after she then began sewing that patch on, she'd already sewn one side of that patch onto the quilt in the necessary area for it. That side of the patch was the side that immediately bordered the nearest side of the immediately-previous patch, in fact. After she sewed that side to the quilt well enough to suit her sufficiently enough, she finally let me see the design on the patch she had just begun to sew onto the quilt.

She said, as she did so, "This design will become quite familiar to you in the future, Chelsea. The Scout that this particular design will represent on this quilt will awaken shortly, I believe. Perhaps within a few days, at most." She revealed that the patch had an erupting and stylized volcano on it of moderate size. The stylized mountain's base was purple with several irregularly-running tan streaks on it, while the erupting part of the mountain had a rather good-sized ash cloud showing for it mostly in red, tan, purple, and silver, if not any other colors as well for it.

"Do you know the Sailor name of this Scout yet?" I asked.

"Not yet, Chelsea. Their name of that kind hasn't come to me just yet, it seems to me. Though I think they'll soon represent a largely volcanic planet, whatever its name might be, for us later on."

"Have you been able to figure out where Gosedei might be yet, by any chance? For you've introduced yourself as Sailor Gosedei at least once or twice now, you know, Sable." I sat down at my desk and took a few books out of my backpack, so as to do some studying related to them, in fact.

"No, I haven't, Chelsea. Nor do I know just yet where Tunka and Oshimuke are, for that matter. Do you want me to try to find out where those worlds are, if and whenever I possibly can?"

"If it'll not be too much of a problem for you, most likely, I think that'd be a good thing for you to try to do if and whenever possible, Sable." I then opened a science textbook, as I also briefly tapped my current pen on the top of my desk, and began working on some of my homework that related well enough to that particular school subject here.

"Agreed. Though it probably would help me quite a bit more if I knew at least a little more about what I was supposed to look for, you know, Chelsea. If not a lot more about such a thing or about such things, anyway, for all the obvious reasons, of course."

"If we could find out who Sentinel Tunka is, then perhaps that might help quite a bit, I think. At least in regard to such things, if not to any other things as well, Sable," I said, as I began studying from that textbook and working on some homework assigned to me earlier that day, of course.

"Unfortunately, I don't have a computer that I can use to begin searching for him or people like him right now, Chelsea. You know why, I'm quite sure, by now."

"Yes. We don't generally use computers for non-work-related or non-school-related purposes, Sable. If we could, then it might be another story. And if we actually wanted to use our family's main computer for such purposes, somehow, the rest of our family might eventually find out that we're both Sailor Scouts now."

"And that is something we must avoid for as long as possible, if we can't do it forever, somehow, Chelsea, right?"

"You've got that right, of course, Sable."

Sable worked just a little bit longer on her quilt here before moving to her own desk in our bedroom, and beginning to work on some of her own homework from her own school. After she did, we basically worked on our respective school-related homework, in relative silence, until just before supper was expected to be ready for all of us Hunters here on the current evening, in fact.

We both worked in relative silence on our various homework assignments until just about 8:30 or so in the evening. We only stopped working on them either when they were done or when Gabrielle knocked on our door to let us both know that supper was just about to be served, by the way.

She knocked on our door about five or so minutes before it was about to be served, and we both soon got ready to have it with the rest of our family here. We were both at the table, then, by 8:45 pm, local time, on Monday, October 15, 2007, in fact. Father soon said grace over all our food and drink, and we periodically conversed with each other as we each had our respective suppers here. Among the things that we discussed were several of his most recently-submitted short manuscripts in various writing genres, for that matter. He soon announced to us all that seven of them had been purchased by various magazines, in three different genres of writing. He also told us that he'd just finished work on four others, and that he'd send them out within the next 24 to 48 hours, if at all possible, to wherever they'd then need to go elsewhere in the world.

Mother was rather happy, but she generally kept her emotions in check wherever possible, whenever he told us that he'd made at least one more sale of his assorted writing projects, if not more than one of them. She normally would hold back her most-heartful emotions whenever we children were around, for all the obvious reasons. These sales would perhaps help us all out in many ways, of course. In which specific ways they might, it wasn't yet known, of course. Or at least one, if not more than one, anyway.

Eventually, I asked, "With these sales, might it be possible for us to go back home again for a long enough period of time in the very near future, Father?"  
"I don't think so, Chelsea," said Father, as he took a bite of some mashed potatoes still present on his plate at that time.

"So how soon might we be able to do that well enough, then, Father?" asked Woody.

"Not until at least next summer, if not even longer than that, I 'm currently figuring here, Woody. And not for more than a few weeks, perhaps, everyone," he soon said to all of us here. "You see, they might not be published for at least another three or so months, if not even longer than that. Perhaps not even for at least six to nine months, for that matter."

"Might we all be able to go back home at least a little bit for the Christmas holidays, by any chance, at least, Father?" asked Gabrielle.

"I really don't know, Gabrielle. The chances of that being possible for us all are evidently quite slim right now, at least to some degree, if not totally. Don't get me wrong, but I really don't think we'll all be able to return home briefly for those holidays somehow," Father said.

Clarence wrinkled his nose at that, before saying, "So we're most likely going to be here during them, it seems, everyone."

"Yes, that's right, Clarence. So I suppose, just like last year, we're going to have to deal with that fact, everyone," said Father.

"Want home, not here," said Odemyla.

"That might not be possible, Myla," said Mother. "You might want to see our relatives there, but it might not be possible at all this year as well."

Joe said, "If we have to be here another holiday season, then so be it. It just means that I won't be seeing Abby for a while longer yet."

"Abby who?" asked Frank.

"Abby Shaysin, Frank. Don't you remember the Shaysin twins from back home well enough at the moment?" asked Joe. Abby Shaysin had often been seen with Joe in the past, when we were all still residing in the Los Angeles area of California, by the way. She was often called "Abikoleta" in formal enough situations, though, and she had a twin sister named Benoliata, who was often called simply "Liata", whenever possible.

"Not really. I never have spent much time with either of the Shaysin twins outside of school, if ever. I do vaguely remember them, but not very well. I know their formal names at least, to at least some degree, I think, but not their informal names, Joe," said Frank.

"Their formal names are Abikoleta and Benoliata, and their informal names are Abby and Liata, Frank."

"Okay, Joe. Then tell me what they look like, and I might be able to remember them better."

"Better than that, I'll show you what they look like right now. I just received some pictures from them today, in fact, Frank." Joe reached into a pocket of the black trousers that he was then wearing, and stood up, so that he could better withdraw his wallet from that pocket.

He took out his wallet, and began looking through it briefly. After a few moments of relative silence, he withdrew two wallet-sized pictures of girls from two sleeves meant to hold pictures in them. He then closed his wallet, and stuck it back in the same pocket that he'd gotten it from, after setting those pictures face-down on the table near his seat at it. Then he sat down, of course.

That done, he then picked up one of those two pictures and turned it over briefly, under and behind a still-shielding hand, before revealing its image to the rest of us. When he revealed it to us, we all soon saw a girl with rather dark skin and green eyes in a white T-shirt and blue jeans who appeared to be about my birth group's age, more or less. She was Abby, by the way. Abby and her six current siblings had a Kenyan mother, and a father who was half-Mayan, one-quarter Aztec, one-eighth Incan, and one-eighth Micmac. She got her dark skin from her mother's side of the family, and her skin was the darkest of all her parents' children. Most of them had skin tones quite similar to her father, not her mother. Two of those siblings had darker skin than the rest of her siblings, but they still weren't quite as dark as Abby and their mother both were. Abby was just a little bit lighter-skinned than her mother, as well.

Joe eventually said, "This might be the girl that I will eventually marry. I learned this early this morning, just before I got up, for your information, everyone."

Sable said, "If that actually is the case, then, dear brother Joseph, I will not object to the idea that you might do that. But I hope that she knows that you have AIDS by now."

"Of course she does, Sable. She has known that ever since I learned I was infected, by the way," answered Joe, in very short order.

"I see, Joe," said Sable. "And her opinion about such a fact is?"

"She doesn't hold it against me at all, Sable. She, in fact, wouldn't mind ever marrying me either, if it's God's will that we do so, eventually. Granted, it might be more complicated for us in our lives if we'd possibly want children with each other, but she's willing to take the risk of possibly getting AIDS, or anything else, for that matter, if God means for us to be together in the future as husband and wife." Joe said.

"Then she must be very special indeed not to run away from a situation like that, if it might present itself to her later on, Joe," said Frank.

"If it does, I don't think she'll run away from me and any condition I might have at that time, Frank. If it does, I think that she'll instead run towards me, and deal with the situation quite courageously, if needed. I am not so worried that I might father children with AIDS or infect my future wife with it, no matter who she might eventually be, as you might be. But I am aware that there may be risks of doing so, if I do marry while I still am infected with the AIDS virus, at least."

"I don't want to take that kind of risk, Joe," said Frank.

"Then you will be like Chelsea, at least a little bit. Right, Chelsea?"

I said, "I too am afraid that I might pass on AIDS to someone else if I marry them, everyone. I really don't want to fall in love, and get married, at least as long as I have AIDS, if I won't always have it. I most certainly am not going to risk harming other people by passing it along in a certain way that I will not mention here and now before marriage, for the obvious reasons. I eventually want to be a mother of at least one healthy child. But at the moment, it doesn't seem that I will ever do that in my life, everyone."

"You will fall in love soon enough, Chelsea, whether you like it or not. Then what will you do?" asked Sable. "And there will be someone who will fall in love with you. I am as sure of that as the sun rises in the east every morning and sets in the west every night."

I soon said, "I may run, or I may not, Sable." Joe then turned over Liata's picture here, and began showing it to us all, in very short order. Liata was Abby's sibling whose basic skin tone was the closest of all to their mutual father's own basic skin tone, for that matter. She was just a little bit darker than he then was, by the way, and looked just a few shades darker than the average Caucasian might be, at most, in terms of her basic skin tone.

"You can't run forever from true love, Chelsea. Right, Mother?" asked Sable, with a rather curious look then present on her face. Almost like a multi-stripe curved swirl pattern on either side of a rather large lollipop, it then seemed to me, for some yet-unknown reason to me, at least, as of that particular time here.

"No, you can't, Sable. It will come to you eventually, God willing, no matter how much you might try to avoid it at all, Chelsea. Your own father and I both ran for quite some time indeed away from true love, and we both did some quite immoral things when we were much younger than we are now. I will not go into great detail about such things right now, at least, for the obvious reasons. Eventually, though, we both somehow fell in true love with each other in our lives. We are still in true love with each other, though there have periodically been rough spots when we've both sinned in the same ways that we once did. Even after we both fell in true love with each other, by the way. Because we have both done so, at least once each, ever since we both fell in love with each other, several members of this family now have AIDS, in fact."

"You mean at least two members of it, if not more, right, Mother?" asked Sable.

"Yes, Sable, that's what I mean. Chelsea got it when I was giving birth to her, after I got it from your father in a very personal manner. Joe and Frank got it from transfusions of contaminated blood. Gabrielle got it after she stumbled on a previously-used syringe for drug-related purposes," Mother eventually said here, with a sorrowful look then on her face. For she really hated, deep in her own heart of hearts, the simple fact that I'd actually gotten it when she'd been giving birth to me in the usual manner. And, as a matter of fact, so did Dad, in his own heart of hearts. I knew this because they'd both actually told me that sort of thing right after I'd finally accepted Jesus into my own life forever as my Lord and Saviour, by the way.

"How did it actually happen that Joe and Frank got contaminated blood, then, Father?" asked Sable.

"It happened quite some time before we both rather radically changed our ways of living our respective mortal lives, Sable. At the time that they were each infected with AIDS through separate blood transfusions, your Mother and I hadn't yet changed our quite-immoral ways of living. We and many now-quite-former associates of ours were quite often doing many things then that we shouldn't have ever done, for any reason or reasons whatsoever, in many different places and at many different times, in our respective mortal lives. And many different things of assorted kinds in this world of ours really got quite mixed up somehow when they shouldn't actually have been able to be. Several other totally-avoidable things happened for many of us that quite unexpectedly caused Joe and Frank to also get infected with that quite-contaminated blood sometime later on, for that matter. Just a little bit more time then passed, and they both received those separate transfusions of contaminated blood. And they've both had to live with AIDS, ever since the certain time when we'd actually learned they'd both been infected with it, as well. When Gabrielle was also infected with AIDS, at least partly, if not entirely, due to our very many previous immoral actions, we both soon learned that we might actually lose her. We almost did, in fact, by the way. She pulled through, somehow, as you can see. But she now has AIDS, and she might just have it for the rest of her mortal life, if a cure can't actually be found in time somehow in order to keep her from dying because of it. After she somehow pulled through her life-threatening situation right after she was infected, we both were forced to either change our quite-immoral and quite-illegal ways or risk actually losing your four oldest siblings once and for all, in very short order indeed. Especially when certain governmental and law enforcement officials each got their respective cracks at both of us, for your information. Meaning your Mother and myself, of course."

Woodrow asked, "And have you both ever considered resuming your previous habits since you changed your ways, honestly, Father?"

"Woody, we have both been quite tempted to resume at least a few of them each, to tell you all the total truth here. But we have mutually chosen not to resume our further habits at all, for our own good and for the good of the rest of our family. That is why we are living as we are now living our lives. If we were ever to resume them, you might never see either or both of us again in your mortal lives well enough and for a long enough time. So we have great incentive never to resume such habits as we abandoned long ago. And we both recommend that all of you children never live as we once lived. Such lifestyle choices will rob you of your freedom to do many things in your lives, whatever they might be. And they may even cause you to die before your appropriate time in this world of ours. We both really wish now, every single day of our lives, that we both had never even considered doing the immoral things that we've both done in our respective mortal lives. But the past, at least as far as your Mother and I know in our respective lives, can't be changed. We can only move forward from it, and do what we can in order to not fall back into old and destructive habits that we both once practiced in our own mortal lives. Our futures all depend on us each living in the present in as moral a manner as we each can in our respective lives. Our pasts and our present are the foundation of our futures. Whatever you do today may very well have a rather serious impact on your futures, kids. Whatever they might have in store for you, that is."

"Would we have likely been around had you lived your lives differently than you used to, Father?" asked Clarence, as we all finished the rest of our respective suppers in our family's kitchen/dining room area.

"I really don't know, Rence. You could have been, or you couldn't have been, depending on how certain things might have then gone for either your mother or me, if not both of us at the same time. What matters now, though, is that you're all here now, actually born, instead of not being that." Father said that as we all began clearing the necessary things away from our table and putting them wherever they might each belong, if we each were somehow able to do just those things here. It was just about 9:30 pm local time, more or less, by the time we all finished working where needed in our family's kitchen/dining room area well enough.

We all, except for Myla and Woody, soon adjourned to our family's living room. As we were doing so, Mother briefly put Myla to bed, while Frank did the same for Woody, where needed, and the rest of us got ready for some more conversation with each other in the living room here. Mother returned to the living room about a minute or two, at most, before Frank returned to it, and they soon took some seats in it, just like the rest of us had already done. When we were all settled well enough in it, Father soon asked, "Do any of you kids have any other questions about our lives before you were born, by any chance?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. What do you think is the most important gift we can ever give someone in our mortal lives, where possible, Father?" I asked. It was now just about 9:45 at night, local time, for us all here.

"In what sense, Chelsea?" he soon asked, in response to my most recently-asked question here.

"In a rather personal sense, if you know what I mean, at least in terms of how we live our lives, Father," I answered, no more than just a few seconds later.

"The most important gift that you can ever possibly give someone, in that particular personal sense that Chelsea is undoubtedly talking about here, kids, is your physical virginity. Once given, or lost, it can never be fully regained. You may each choose to experience secondary physical virginity, after giving or losing it, but you will never be able to fully regain your original physical virginity, once you give or lose it, in your respective lives. So it is best to hold onto it for as long as you each remain unmarried in your respective lives, kids," answered Father, within a minute or two, at most, here.

"If we each actually do have the choice to keep it or not before then for ourselves, Father?" asked Sable.

"Yes. If you each do have a choice in whether or not to give it to anyone at all in your own respective lives, you each should most certainly wait until you're married to that certain someone, whoever it might happen to be for each of you kids, Sable. If anyone at all for any or all of you, that is. Many people may not have that choice, I'm willing to admit, in their own lives, for various reasons I won't go into at great length here and now, because of the number and the detail of those reasons that might be required for each of you. But many people actually do have a choice about such a thing in their respective lives. And they often do, somehow, actually make the wrong choice about who and when to give it away to someone, for whatever reason or reasons, in their own lives."

"You both fornicated, did you not, Father?" asked Frank, after we still-present children all considered such things here for at least a few minutes apiece..

"Yes, your mother and I did both fornicate with many other people, among other immoral and illegal things we once did. We both even committed adultery with others after you and the rest of your birth group were conceived, but before we knew that you'd all been conceived. And even after your births, I must admit, while we were both still caught up in our old ways of living, we did so as well. But after we both quite nearly lost Gabrielle, as I've already said, we both really had to change our ways of living our lives or actually take the rather serious risk of losing all of you kids once and for all Those kids of you that were with us by then, of course, Frank. We've both done many things that we both still regret greatly in our respective lives. Both in terms of them being lived separately and being lived together, for your information, kids."

"What does the Bible say about fornicators and fornication, Mother?" asked Clarence, as the nearest wall clock reached 10 pm local time here.

"It says that fornicators will have no place in Heaven, and that people are to flee fornication. Among many other things it says about such things, Clarence. Whoremongers are also considered to be fornicators, I believe, and they're mentioned in Revelation 22:15, among various other places in the Bible, along with several other kinds of people, who will never enter Heaven. Fornicators of whatever kind or kinds there might be are mentioned elsewhere in the Bible as well periodically. Places such as 1st Corinthians Chapter 6 and Galatians Chapter 5, for just two examples. 1st Corinthians 6:18, says, in the King James Version of the Bible, 'Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.' What that means that every sin that one does, except for fornication and sufficiently-related sins, is outside the body. Every sin of fornication and sufficiently-related sins, however, is in the body. That is exactly why your father eventually infected me directly, and why we both are at least partly, if not entirely, responsible for four of you besides ourselves also having AIDS in your lives. If we'd not have ever fornicated, or done certain other things either with each other or with certain other people, you all might not have gotten AIDS, if you actually ever existed somehow. As you now all do, in fact."

We all continued conversing with each other here until about 10:30 pm, more or less, at the latest, about this sort of thing, and about anything else that still crossed any or all of our minds here, before we all began retiring to our respective rooms for the rest of the night. First Sable and Clarence retired, and then Frank and Gabrielle did. Joe followed not too long after Frank and Gabrielle said good night to the rest of us, for that matter. Eventually, I was alone with my parents again in our family's living room. After I was, I soon asked, "Mother, if I do fall in true love with someone, do you think that I might be able to fall in that kind of love with a suitable enough guy, eventually?"

"I really don't know, Chelsea. I don't really know exactly what kind of guy God has in mind for you just yet. I'm sure that He's got someone in mind for you, but I'm not sure yet whether or not you two have met up with each other in your lives. For all we know, your future husband might even be at least part-black," said Mother, while sipping some tea she often would make for herself right after supper was over for us all when we were normally around home for the rest of a typical night.

"Would you actually object to the idea, if that was truly God's plan for me, Father and Mother?" I asked, after I briefly ducked into the kitchen/dining room area for a small plate of oatmeal raisin cookies. I brought the plate to a coffee table of sorts in the living room as I asked my parents that question here, in fact.

"If it was truly God's will that you were ever to marry a guy with considerably darker skin than we have, Chelsea, I wouldn't object. And I don't think Mother would either, for that matter," said Father, after I handed him two of those cookies at his unspoken request here.

"That's right, Chelsea, I wouldn't, if I knew it was truly God's will that you were to do so," said Mother, as she sipped more of her tea here. "It might seem quite odd indeed to most other people in this world of ours, of course. But if it was truly meant for you to marry such a guy, by God's will, who are we to oppose God about such things?"

"I never actually thought of the very idea of me perhaps dating outside my own race, much less of the very idea of me perhaps marrying someone not of it, Father."

"True love can often happen between people of totally different races, Chelsea. I myself nearly fell in that certain kind of love with a lonely black girl from Lesotho, while we were both still teenagers. But it just wasn't to be, by the way. We weren't actually able to get to know each other well enough to ever fall in that certain kind of love with each other. She only spent a year in the States, as far as I currently know in my very own life. And that was only as a student at our high school in the Los Angeles area of California. We didn't exactly hit it off rather well when she and I first met each other in actual physical reality. Yes, your mother and I actually went to the same high school together before, during, and after the aforementioned Lesothon girl's time at it. Elanshi and I didn't actually start to somehow be attracted to each other until shortly after the first semester ended for us at our high school, if I remember things well enough here by now. By the time we both were really beginning to get quite attracted to each other, she was just about two months away from returning to Lesotho, at most. We both really tried to make the resulting mutual attraction between us both at that time work out well enough, in a very quick manner, but too many things kept us from actually falling in true love with each other. Such as me beginning to do certain things that I should have never even considered doing in my life, just so you know this here well enough. After she eventually went home to Lesotho with her family, then, various people actually initiated both me and your future mother into a certain gang of sorts. One thing quickly led to another, and so on and so forth, of course. And we eventually were both trapped quite securely inside that very same gang and doing many, if not most or all, of the often-immoral and often-illegal things that people in that gang would quite often do, if and whenever possible at all. While we were still teens, then, your mother and I began sleeping with each other and various other people in our respective lives, at least as of that particular time in them."

"Including with many people of totally different racial backgrounds, no doubt, than either of you or both of you, Father?"

"Yes, quite unfortunately so. As far as I know, at least there are many women in my own past. And many men, as well, just so you know. I really can't give you exact numbers, right off-hand, though, for various reasons, whatever they might actually be, Chelsea. But I can still most definitely tell you that I quite often messed around in that way with quite a lot of people, in any case at all, in my own life," said Father.

"And are the exact same things actually true for you as well, Mother?" I eventually asked, wondering just how much she'd done those kinds of things in her own life, by the way.

"Yes, Chelsea, that's unfortunately so for me here as well. I messed around quite a lot indeed with many people, while we were both still living our lives like that. Not only with many men, mind you, but with many women too. I also really don't know right off-hand just how many people I've been with in that particular way, for the same basic reasons as your father might not fully be able to remember either just how many people he's actually been with like that. However, I most definitely do know that it was far too many people that I was with like that, in any case at all, for that matter. Please don't ever repeat our mistakes of this particular nature, if you can possibly avoid it at all in your own life," Mother said.

"As God is my witness, I most certainly will never do so, if I can possibly ever avoid it somehow at all in my life. You have my most solemn word on that, you two."

"Good. Now is there anything else that you feel you want or need to discuss with us at this time, before you retire to your room for the rest of the night?" asked Father.

"No, not at this time. Thanks for offering to listen if needed or desired, though, Father."

"Any reasonable enough time, we most certainly will do that, if and whenever possible, you know, Chelsea," said Father.

"Thank you. Good night, and all that, of course, then," I said, just before taking the last few cookies still on the plate of cookies here in the living room, with their mutual permission.

"The same to you too, our dear Chelsea," said Father and Mother together, as they briefly both embraced me, and then just each other. I smiled, and then went right to my room for the rest of the night, of course. It was then nearly 11:15 at night, local time, by the way.

Sable was already quite soundly asleep in her bed by the time I eventually returned to our bedroom. I was very quiet indeed as I then moved to my own part of the room. And I either studied rather silently at my desk or got ready for bed just as silently as I studied here. I eventually felt much too tired to actually continue studying sufficiently well at the present time, so I quickly got ready for bed, after I somehow realized that very fact quite well here. I actually hit the bed by 12:30 in the morning, and I was quite soundly asleep again by 12:45 am, in fact. But not before first setting my own alarm clock for 6:15 in the morning, so that I could hopefully do at least a bit more studying before my breakfast. Just because I'd actually spent most of Monday night conversing about many different things with the rest of my immediate family, if and/or whenever possible, by the way. I was once again lost in one or more of the countless lands of dreams by 12:45 in the morning of Tuesday, October 16, 2007, of course. And so I slept.

* * *

Chapter Five will follow as soon as I can finish writing it well enough, people. Enough said. The Universal Storyteller out. 


	6. Chapter Five:  Ryoko Rises

Here's Chapter Five. I hope you think it worth your time. This chapter of the story will often, though not entirely, mention various things of a rather mature nature indeed, people, so please be forewarned. Enough said.

* * *

Chapter Five: Ryoko Rises

A few days later, on Thursday, October 18, 2007, I went right after school to our family doctor for our family's females in the Tokyo local area to get my monthly medical checkup because of the fact that I currently had AIDS. Mother picked me up from school for it, and took me there. Our family doctor's clinic was in Shibuya, by the way. Yes, I did say Shibuya, people. Mother took me to that clinic, and we both got me checked out as needed. Our doctor's name was Sayana Nakane, and she was actually Ryoko's mother, as I would later find out. I didn't know that fact just yet, when we both arrived at the clinic, simply because Ryoko hadn't mentioned it to me or to anyone else at our slumber party earlier. Her friends knew it, as I later learned, but they chose not to reveal that fact either.

Ryoko's mother was about five inches shorter and about 25 pounds lighter than her daughter Ryoko, who was about 5'11" and about 150 pounds, more or less, in normal enough clothes. She had black hair that she often wore in a ponytail often secured with a medium green bow near her crown. Sayana Nakane had green eyes that were approximately the shade of coconut palm leaves, more or less. When I saw her this time, she was then wearing a jade green beaded necklace around her neck, as she often would in her life.

I got the full-bore medical checkup for some time on the current day, while Mother waited patiently in the clinic's waiting room for a while. Nakane-sensei asked, while the checkup was still going on, "How are you feeling of late, Chelsea?"

"I'm generally feeling fine, Nakane-sensei. Since the last time you saw me, I had my first slumber party here in Japan with a few girls, including Sable, by the way. One of those girls was Ryoko Nakane from this general part of Tokyo." I was then lying on my back, as she began to check the range of motion for my legs at the present time, and as I said those things to her here.

"Interesting. What did you think of Ryoko and the other girls who came to your first slumber party here in Japan, Chelsea?"

"Chinatsu was rather interesting with her custom-built vehicle, I think. Eri was also with her hair and her interest in certain sports. And Ryoko was with her juggling ability, as we all eventually saw when she generally juggled about a dozen or so items of varying sizes, shapes, and appearances, at the same time, at least once or twice during that slumber party. Among the things that she juggled around us during the slumber party were oranges, shoes, knives, bottles, and eggs, for example. She even juggled up to two dozen items at once, for that matter, Nakane-sensei."

"I wouldn't be very surprised if that was true. I've seen her juggling periodically for the circus, in fact, Chelsea. And I've seen her taking tickets for it, as well." I was still on my back, for she was still checking my range of motion for my legs while I was lying on a diagnostic bed in her examination area.

"You happen to have the same last name, it seems, Nakane-sensei. Might I ask why, if that's not too inappropriate for me to ask you here?" I sat up, when she told me I could.

"We have the same last name because we are related to each other, Chelsea. You see, she is my daughter by blood. She gets her medium blonde hair from her father, who got it from his mother. His mother got it from her mother, and so on and so forth, generally through the female part of the related families, with some rare exceptions. I don't know why, because I'm not too experienced in most matters related to human genetics, but I do know that, at least, about the trait for medium blonde hair that Ryoko picked up from her father."

"Okay. That explains the hair color she now has, then. But what about the eyes, Nakane-sensei? I mean, magenta isn't typically an eye color for humans, is it?" Nakane-sensei had me do some stretching and some physical exercises so that she could check how my muscles were generally working for me at the current time in my life.

"No, it isn't, as far as I know, Chelsea. Her father has dark blue eyes that are almost navy blue in their color, and I have green eyes, as you can see. I wonder if he has some hidden genetic trait that would explain why Ryoko has magenta eyes, instead of a more typical human eye color. Or if there's a medical reason why she does. Frankly, we have never actually been able to figure out why she has the eye color that she does in her life, to tell you the truth." She periodically ran her fingers over my back, arms, and legs as needed here.

"Perhaps because my eye color is rather uncommon, Mother," said Ryoko, who had suddenly joined us there in a rather silent manner. "I have done a considerable amount of research myself about genetics, with the periodical help of friends of Chinatsu, and have tried to trace back our family's tree to at least eight generations on both sides of it, if not more. The closest-related person that I can recall well enough as definitely having an eye color fairly similar, if not exactly equivalent, to my own in our family, at least as of the present time in my life, was Father's Mother's Mother's Father's Mother's Mother's Mother's Mother's Mother's Mother's Father's Mother's Mother's Mother." Nakane-sensei eventually had me sit back down on top of the bed, as she checked my heart again with her stethoscope here. She had checked it a few times before as needed during the checkup, by the way.

Nakane-sensei considered this fact, and began counting the generations back from Ryoko in their family tree. Even while she was still checking my heart again. She counted back fourteen generations, including her own husband in the counting back of generations here, before asking, "So the last person you can currently tell who had an eye color sufficiently close to your own was your 12-times-great-grandmother, Ryoko?" She then put her stethoscope away here.

"As far as we can currently tell, yes, Mother. We could be wrong about that, of course, but based on the evidence currently available to us, that seems to be the case for us here."

"I see. Chelsea, have you been taking your medicine as needed?"

"Of course, Nakane-sensei. I never miss doing so whenever the need arises."

"Good. You are still infected with AIDS, whether or not you always will be in this life. But you now seem to be in considerably better overall condition than you were the last time you had a medical checkup last month. I don't know exactly why, but it seems that something has begun to happen for you that is beginning to help you battle your AIDS condition. I really would like to know what it is, of course. But I just don't know what it is, in fact, Chelsea." She picked up a clipboard near where I was still sitting, and made another check in a box on a form clipped to it.

"Nor do I, for sure. Are we done here, then, Nakane-sensei?" I asked.

Nakane-sensei checked that clipboard somewhat, though not too, briefly for everything that might still be needed to be checked or done on that form, and nothing else remained to be checked or done on it. Other than just a few signatures being put on it, perhaps. She soon sent Ryoko out to Mother to have her come into the examination room here. Mother soon returned to it, and signed the form where she then needed to, before Nakane-sensei and I both signed it as well.

After we all signed wherever we then needed to on the form in question here, Nakane-sensei had Ryoko take it to the necessary receptionist elsewhere in the clinic. Ryoko did so, and was back in the examination room within the next ten minutes, after doing so as needed.

While she was still away from all three of us here, Mother eventually said, "Nakane-sensei, your daughter Ryoko is really good at juggling, it seems to me." I then started gathering up all my things that were currently in the examination room with Nakane-sensei, Mother, and myself, for the obvious reasons here.

"Yes, she is. Periodically the circus has her juggling for them, if and whenever the need arises for them. But she normally works for them as a ticket-taker. She is thinking about working for the circus quite often in the future, after she finishes school, for that matter, Hunter-san the mother," Nakane-sensei soon said here.

"That's not the only thing that I might be thinking about doing for a living, if I possibly can," said Ryoko, even as she returned from her rather brief errand for her mother elsewhere in the clinic. "At least in terms of a potential full-time occupation in my professional future, anyway, Mother. I'm also periodically considering the idea of going to school to be an astrogeologist or something similar enough to that sort of thing, believe it or not."

"There's no such thing, I believe, Ryoko," said Nakane-san.

"Then perhaps I'll be the first person to do such a thing as far as anyone mortal might be able to tell, Mother. Wouldn't that be something?"  
"Perhaps so. But it still seems quite improbable that someone can even study stars from their surfaces or inside them well enough, for the obvious reasons, Ryoko," said Nakane-san.

"I don't deny that might be true, Mother. But have you ever really known me to let many things keep me from doing things that might seem impossible, if I can somehow ever avoid it at all?"

"No, I suppose not. But you have often pushed limits, when possible, if not gone past them, Ryoko," said Nakane-san, with a somewhat concerned look on her face towards Ryoko here, as I then finished gathering up everything that I'd brought into the examination room with me earlier.

"So I have. I have often found myself in trouble, because of that fact. But have I generally learned from any mistakes that I have made before, Mother?" Nakane-sensei soon sat down at a nearby desk, and she began writing out updated medical prescriptions for me here.

Nakane-sensei nodded rather briefly, pausing in the writing of my new prescriptions for a few seconds, while also saying, "There will come a day when I won't be able to protect you from other people, I think, Ryoko. And if you take things too far, I may not be able to help you, in certain situations, you know."

"If that's ever the case, Mother, then so be it. But I'm really not the kind of girl that likes to just sit around and do nothing at all, if I can possibly avoid it, under most circumstances in my life. I have always been that way, and I very strongly suspect that I always will be, for the rest of my life here on this world of ours," said Ryoko.

"Would you care to explain just what you mean by that, please, Ryoko?" I asked. "If it's not too much of a problem for you here, of course?"

"Sure, Chelsea, I like being with my friends at slumber parties, but I really don't think that there's a possibility that I'll ever be able to attend many slumber parties for a living. However, with a professional career as, for example, a geologist of some sort, I might be able to make a reasonably good living for myself, if I'm able to do such things well enough in my life. I don't really know how good of a living, of course, but I think I can make at least enough money to support myself, at least, if not anyone else as well, in the future, somehow."

"You've been known to try spelunking, as well, Ryoko," said Nakane-sensei.

"So what, Mother?"

"Spelunking can be dangerous, can it not, Ryoko?"

"There's never been a cave that's collapsed when I've been spelunking with others in my life. Or at least not close enough to me and anyone else with me at such times as I've been spelunking before to put any or all of us in sufficient enough danger, anyway, Mother," said Ryoko, with a secret wink at me here.

"I still don't like it that you often take risks in your life, Ryoko," said Nakane-san.

"I fully realize that, of course. But I can't exactly change who I am easily enough in a very short period of time, I think, Mother."

"And that fact worries me and your father, at least, if not anyone else in our immediate family, to at least some degree, if not to a great degree, Ryoko," said Nakane-san.

"Understood. But I have to be me, you know. I can't live my own mortal life exactly as the rest of you might actually live your respective lives in this world of ours, Mother. Even if what I ever happen to do in it might periodically worry you or scare you, I really can't do that, for all the obvious reasons."

"Of course you can't. You remind me a lot of my maternal grandmother's maternal grandfather, based on what little I know of him from my maternal grandmother, in fact, Ryoko. He often lived his life a lot like you live yours, it seems to me, if what I know of him right now is accurate enough here."

"How so, Mother?" asked Ryoko.

"Your unquenchable zest for life and great adventure is a lot like his was, I believe. He was the kind of man who quite often would dive for pearls where most normal enough people might have actually thought it was quite impossible to ever find them at all. Among several other kinds of gemstones, at least, if nothing else as well, for that matter. He could also evidently quite often hold his breath for at least an hour or two, somehow, and reach depths of the sea that most modern-day submarine-type sea vessels might not even be able to reach. He was often able to retrieve sunken treasure much easier than anyone else might normally be able to do in their own live. Whenever he did so, he quite often could either descend or ascend at least twice as fast as an average human being might normally be able to do whenever they were deep-sea diving, without suffering any permanently-lasting effects of any kind at all. If not even faster than that, by the way, Ryoko." Nakane-san finished writing out the last of my new prescriptions, and began noting them in my medical file as well here.

"He must have really been something, then, Mother?"  
"According to our extended family lore, Ryoko, he evidently was, it seems. There are at least some pieces of jewelry that'll be given to you when you eventually do get married. They often have on them assorted gemstones that he was periodically able to gather in his life, among other things that often are on those pieces of jewelry that you'll receive at the proper time in yours."

"Not before then, Mother?" asked Ryoko, with a somewhat curious look on her face at that time.

"Not according to his last will and testament, Ryoko. There are still other pieces set aside by him for those who'll be part of your wedding from your generation, for that matter, just so you know."

My mother asked, seconds later, once we all couldn't think of anything else to say here right now, "Are we free to leave now, Nakane-sensei?"

"I suppose so. Take all of these prescription order slips to the clinic's chief pharmacist, and then have him fill each prescription as needed here, Hunter-san the mother. Chelsea, you'll need to take them without fail whenever necessary, or certain ill effects might result, of course."

"Of course, Nakane-sensei. I'll see you again next month at the same time, if not sooner, I hope."

"I'll look forward to it, Chelsea. It is always a pleasure spending time with you," said Nakane-sensei, with a small smile at Mother and myself.

Just before Mother and I left the examination room together here, Ryoko asked, "Do you think we could perhaps continue things from where we left off earlier tomorrow night, Chelsea?"

"If it's not too much of a problem with my parents, I don't see why not, Ryoko. Mother, would it be a problem, perhaps, with you and/or Father?"

"I'd have to talk to your father, of course, before I can give you a good enough answer, Chelsea," Mother said, in very short order.

"I understand, for the obvious reasons. Can I call you later, if at all possible, Ryoko?" I asked.

"Sure you can, within reason, Chelsea." Ryoko took a slip of paper off one of her mother's notepads, with her mother's consent, and wrote down her family's primary residential phone number, just as soon as she could then do that here well enough. That done, she handed me that paper, in very short order, of course.

Five minutes or so later, at most, then, Mother and I arrived in front of the clinic's chief pharmacist, and handed him all the necessary prescription order slips from Nakane-sensei, so that he could handle them as needed here. We only had to wait for about fifteen minutes for all my new prescriptions to be filled as needed, in fact. After they were, we paid for them all, and left for home.

We arrived back home at about 6:30 in the evening, and I went straight to my and Sable's bedroom, while Mother headed for the kitchen/dining room area to start working on supper for us all. The boys, except for Father, were in their bedrooms as might be appropriate for each of them here. As were Sable, Gabrielle, and Odemyla, for that matter. Father, however, was already working in the kitchen/dining room area on washing several dishes and things for us to use later, when Mother arrived in it not long after we got back home again.

Sable asked me how my monthly medical checkup went, and I told her. It took me most of the next twenty or so minutes to tell her sufficiently well about it, and about the other things that the Nakanes had discussed either with me or with Mother, if not both, in fact. She didn't generally interrupt as I told her everything that I could tell her about my short visit to the clinic, for all the obvious reasons here. And even as I did so, she also sewed an appropriately-sized jade green block-style L on top of the stylized mountain's patch, between two of the tan streaks running down its base to at least some degree, for that matter.

Once I felt that I'd told her all the things that perhaps needed to be told to her about it here and now, she soon asked, "Chelsea, do you want to go to the potential slumber party tomorrow, by any chance at all, if our parents will let you do so?"

"I might not mind it at all. Would you mind going to another slumber party elsewhere in the local area, as well, Sable?"

"No, I really don't think so, just so long as I happen to know enough of the people at that party at least a little bit, Chelsea. If not a lot, of course."

I reached into the same desk drawer that I'd taken a granola bar out of some time before, and pulled out another one of the exact same variety that the earlier one had been. And I began to unwrap it just before Sable finished sewing the L onto the required patch, which now had three of its sides sufficiently secured to the quilt's top surface. She suddenly said, "The next member of our group will awaken tomorrow after school for us all anywhere in Tokyo's local area."

"Where and when?"

"I can't be quite sure about this. Or at least not at the current moment, anyway. But I think it'll perhaps happen just about an hour or so after school's over for the rest of the day, more or less, near one of our schools, wherever it might happen to be, Chelsea. This is for some yet-unknown reason, of course."

We talked with each other about whatever might then come to our minds while we were still waiting for supper to be ready for everyone later on. We also worked on our homework or the quilt as the mood then struck either of us here, quite obviously enough. Just before we were both called for supper, then, I asked, while also finishing my granola bar, "When do you think you'll finish sewing the last side of that patch that you're working on adding to the quilt, Sable?"

"I'll have it done before school tomorrow, in any case. Even if I have to do it on the way to school, I'll have it done by the time school starts for me tomorrow."

About five minutes after she said that, more or less, Gabrielle told us supper was ready. We both soon left our bedroom behind, and got ready for supper. We both were at the table by 8:30 pm, and supper was over by 9, local time. By 9:15, then, we were both in our rooms for what might be the rest of the night, in fact.

We spent some more time conversing with each other before Sable eventually got too tired to stay up much longer. So she soon went to bed, and to sleep, for that matter. I watched her do that for a little while, and then went back to work on my remaining homework that had to be done before school tomorrow. After I finished it all, I then wrote for a little while in a mostly-empty notebook of mine, until I felt the first hints of impending drowsiness starting to come my way on the current night. I soon got ready for bed, and was in my bed again by the usual time that I'd be in it. I drifted off into the countless lands of dreams by the usual time, and I was quite soundly asleep again in my bed by the usual time, by the way. And so I slept.

* * *

After school ended for us both the following day, Mother picked Sable and I both up from our respective schools and brought us back home for at least a few moments, if not quite a few moments. For she and Father had eventually decided, after somewhat considerable discussion between them both, to actually let Sable and I go to Ryoko's residence for another slumber party. We both hurried to our room for a little while, and gathered up all the things that we thought would be necessary for us at the party. Including, in fact, at least one of the other watches that we'd bought at the bookstore a little while before, if not all of them. 

We eventually left home again, and we all went to a very tall apartment building no more than just a few blocks away from the clinic that I'd gone to the day before for my monthly checkup. When we all got there, we soon found out that Ryoko's family actually lived on the building's 24th floor, in Apartment 2448. We all took an elevator up to the 24th floor, even Sable, and then found the necessary apartment in the building. Mother knocked on the main door to it, and Nakane-sensei met us all at the door, in fact.

We were soon ushered into the apartment, and found Chinatsu and Eri already present in Ryoko's room for it, by the time that we all got to it quite well enough here. Ryoko was nowhere to be seen at the moment, however. Nakane-sensei said that Ryoko had forgotten something back at her school, so she'd gone back to it in order to pick it up before the grounds closed for the rest of the day. It was then just about 4:30 in the afternoon, local time, by the way.

Mother didn't stay too much longer after she learned that from Nakane-sensei. And she wished us both a good slumber party, of course. She said that she'd probably be back here to pick us both up by noon of the following day, for that matter. We accepted that, and then she left.

Ryoko eventually arrived here at about 4:55 pm, local time, more or less. When she did so, she soon asked Nakane-sensei, "Mother, do you mind if Chinatsu, Eri, and I show Chelsea and Sable around our area for a little while, by any chance?"

"No, just so long as you're back by 6:30, I don't think so. Your father should be back home by then, and you know he expects supper to be ready when he gets home. Your siblings won't be dropping in tonight either, it seems to me."

"Okay, Mother. So we won't actually be seeing any of my eight siblings tonight. Other commitments for them all, right?"

"Yes, Ryoko. Three of them are working on a movie in Sapporo, while the other five of them won't be able to get home this weekend from college, it seems. They were all hoping to somehow be able to come here this weekend for a while. But they couldn't get away for a long enough period of time to do that, in fact."

"All right. That'll change things somewhat tonight, it seems to me. I was hoping that Chelsea and Sable could meet them tonight, by the way, Mother."

"But since they're not coming tonight, that sort of thing will have to wait, of course, Ryoko."

"Of course, Mother."

Chinatsu, Eri, and Ryoko soon donned jackets from their respective schools, so that they could walk with us all in a little while. Ryoko soon had Sable and I leave most of our things in her room, for the obvious reasons. After we did, all five of us girls soon went for a walk with each other elsewhere in Shibuya.

We walked in Shibuya for a while, and while we were walking, we all suddenly began hearing some sounds of struggle between several people. And very soon after that, some otherworldly sounds of unknown kinds reached all of our ears, even while sounds of the aforementioned struggle were still reaching our ears here. As soon as the sounds of struggle between several people reached Ryoko's ears, Ryoko said, "Chinatsu and Eri, I want you to go get the police, for their assistance might be needed here." No more than a few brief moments later, then, the already-mentioned otherworldly sounds reached our ears as well. Ryoko then said, "Forget doing that, Chinatsu and Eri. Just get out of here, please, if at all possible. I think things just got at least a bit more complicated here. Run for it, and don't look back. Go back to my place and stay there. Tell Mother that I'm going to push the limits again, most likely, and it's best that she not ask me how, if I do."

Chinatsu soon nodded, just before she and Eri ran for it. After they were far enough away from where we now were, she asked us, "Are you two going to run as well?"

"No, we won't, Ryoko," I soon said, after briefly looking at Sable here. "What do you plan to do here, then, Ryoko, if I might ask you this?"

"Find out what in the Galaxies is going on here, of course, Chelsea-tachi."

"Very well. But what you are about to face is going to be like nothing you may have ever faced before in this life of yours, Ryo-san," said Sable, in a fairly quiet manner here, so that nobody else who might currently still be around us all could hear her well enough, most likely.

"I don't understand, Sable." Sable suddenly saw a bird of some yet-unknown sort fly in our general direction and begin diving right towards Ryoko here. The yet-unknown bird began flying in her direction, and buzzed her a few times, before Ryoko tried to get them to stop doing so here. The still-unfamiliar bird then flew off in another direction, and we all soon followed. By the time we caught up with the strange bird well enough here, then, we saw another Negaverse monster of some yet-unknown sort. As soon as Sable and I did so, we realized we'd need to attend to it first before we could attend to the sounds of struggle that we'd heard earlier around us all. The bird that had just buzzed Ryoko then flew up out of its reach here at least a little bit, if not a lot, in fact.

Sable then reached into a pocket of her current coat here, and quickly said, as she also withdrew a pen and watch from it, "We don't have time to go into great detail about this sort of thing right now. Take this pen and this watch and do whatever might then strike your mind to do here, Ryo-san. While you do so, Chelsea and I will buy you time to do what it now seems that you'll have to do here."

After Sable said that, we both soon left Ryoko alone for at least a little while here. We both quickly ducked into a nearby deserted alley just about twenty feet or so, more or less, away from where we'd now left Ryoko, and then powered up as needed. Ten seconds, at most, after we both began transforming, we were then already transformed into our respective Scout states. I engaged the monster first, while Gosedei hung back for a little while, trying to assess the current situation at least a little bit better here for at least the time being. We wasted no time at all with any pre-fight speeches at the present time, for things were just happening too quickly for us to do that here and now easily enough.

My very first attacks against that particular monster were only semi-effective, at best, while I was then trying to buy time for Gosedei and Ryoko to act here as needed, in fact. But they were at least effective enough to draw the 20-foot-tall bat/tiger/dragon/humanoid-like fused monster at least a bit more away from the many people that they were trying to drain the energies of when we showed up near them here. Just as Gosedei was about to launch the first one of her "Gosedei Ice Flood" attacks here in the current battle, Sentinel Tunka showed up. And he then sent some roses and quills towards the Negaverse-created monster as he saw fit to here. The monster quite quickly batted them all away with little effort, or they stomped on them, wherever and whenever possible.

It then took the three of us, including Gosedei, at least ten minutes, if not even longer than that, to each find some considerably better areas for us to attack the rather troublesome monster from here, somehow. For that same monster was able to fly to at least some degree here, in fact. And they soon saw Ryoko still being somewhere near us, before trying to dive at her quite easily enough here. Before they could reach Ryoko, however, she'd suddenly grabbed up some loose pipes and quickly began connecting them together somehow, so that they then looked at least a little bit like something that was quite strangely reminiscent of a ancient spear or javelin, by the way. She soon threw that improvised weapon at the Negaverse-created monster, which easily dodged to one side, but still not easily enough to avoid hitting a nearby brick wall in the now-largely-deserted alley. The monster hit that wall, and was somewhat slow to get up. Or at least a little bit slower than it'd just been flying around the battle's current location here, anyway. As the monster struggled at least a little bit in order to get up again well enough here, Ryoko then hurried over to where her just-improvised weapon had landed, and grabbed it up again.

Right after she grabbed it up again, she suddenly got the quite insistent urge to also briefly look at both the pen and the watch that Sable had given her only a little while before. She very briefly looked at them both while also quickly putting her watch on the top of her left foot for some yet-unknown reason. Then Ryoko suddenly shouted, as she also stabbed her quite-improvised spear into the nearby ground while she held it in her left hand, her new pen in her right hand, and somehow balanced her watch on top of her left foot, "Lekawa Volcano Power!" As she kicked her new watch into the air very quickly indeed, a multi-colored pillar that was quite considerably dominated by the presence of red, tan, and purple light suddenly shrouded her deep inside it, even as it still emanated from her pen here. Ryoko's own pillar of light looked quite a lot like a pillar of flame, in fact, even as her new watch hovered briefly over her head here.

When she became fully visible again here, then, she was Sailor Lekawa for the very first time in her life here in this world of ours. From the very top of her head, to the very soles of her feet, then, she was quite fully that. She now had a gold tiara just like mine and Gosedei's on, but the stone at its base was different than either of the ones that Gosedei or I had at our own tiaras' bases. The stone at her tiara's base was a rather deep red and medium tan in its two main colors, with just a touch of near-magenta purple also present near its outermost edge in its holder, somehow. Her earrings were the exact same ones that she normally would wear in her civilian state, whenever she possibly could do so at all in her life. And they were the ones that she'd actually been wearing when I first met her rather unexpectedly in my own life, by the way. Her deep choker was generally red, tan, and purple, with symbols on it that were similar to her earrings, for that matter. Her choker's top began just about a quarter of an inch or so, at most, below her chin's level, and its bottom then ran to about the same basic level just above her own shoulders. Which then meant that most, if not all, of her neck was well-covered by it, of course. Most of that choker was deep red, with two purple and four tan stripes on it, where all the aforementioned symbols were on it. The stripes on her choker were red, tan, purple, tan, red, tan, purple, tan, and red, from top to bottom. With the widest stripe being the fifth one for it and the one that bore most of the symbols present on that choker here. Her mostly tan sailor-style collar was just like mine and Gosedei's in its basic style and cut, at least. However, it was mostly tan with red and purple collar lines, as might then be quite appropriate here. Where the flame bursts were basically located on the back of my own sailor-style collar, volcano symbols were on the back of hers, in the quite-corresponding positions. She also wore the very same necklace that she'd actually been wearing the first time that I met her. She had a mostly deep red front bow and a mostly purple back bow the same size, basically, as the bows that were also present on my and Gosedei's uniforms. Her blouse was tan, where needed, with piping in other colors as might be appropriate enough for her here. She had absolutely no sleeves or any puffed shoulders now present for her new Scout uniform here, quite strangely enough. She had on a mostly deep red skirt knee-length skirt with at least a few purple decorations and/or lines as then needed here. Sailor Lekawa also wore a purple belt around her uniform's waist that was very similar to mine, but not entirely so. For she also had a few belt pouches on it, as well as a holder for an often-adjustable weapon on it. Such as an improvised spear or javelin, for one potential example here. Her uniform's gloves were mostly white elbow-length gloves with five partial rings on them in red, tan, purple, silver, and green, spaced periodically from her wrist to her elbow as the need arose for them to be on those gloves of hers. She had no armbands, for the partial rings on her gloves took the place of them for her. Her current footwear were mostly tan pumps with purple and silver straps and decorations on them as well. Her brand-new shoes completed her current look, quite naturally enough. At least in terms of her current fighting uniform, anyway. In her right hand, she quite firmly held her just-improvised weapon at an nearly parallel angle to the ground now, and pointed it directly at the monster who'd actually tried to dive on her just a few moments, at most, before. She was now obviously quite angry indeed with them, for she was really glaring at them with barely-contained fury shining in her magenta-colored eyes here.

The strange bird that had just buzzed her a little while before then flew down and perched on her left shoulder, and briefly seemed to converse with her here somehow. After they did so for a few seconds, they flew away again to where they'd been watching Gosedei, Tunka, and I fight the Negaverse-created monster for a while. Lekawa then suddenly called out, as she stabbed her improvised weapon into the nearby ground yet again, "Lekawa Blazing Cauldron Eruption!" She quickly drew a good-sized arc in front of her at a moderate distance from herself while her weapon was still in the ground here. And several spikes of molten rock burst from that same arc, and still through the ground, in jagged lines until just before they reached the area just under where the monster was still standing here. The lines then joined together, and they began forming a circle around that monster. The circle was completed in no more than fifteen seconds after the jagged lines joined together into one line. After it was, a five-feet-thick and thirty-feet-tall wall on all sides trapped the monster inside it quite closely. When it did, the bottom of the wall almost immediately formed the bottom of a large cauldron of sorts, and a very hot fire then materialized suddenly under that cauldron. The fire under that cauldron then began going quite hotly indeed, in fact. When it actually did so well enough to suit her sufficiently enough here, Lekawa suddenly shouted out to Gosedei, "Make an appropriately-sized lid or cork for the cauldron as quickly as you can, please, so that the monster can't escape it easily enough, Gosedei!"

Gosedei then began doing so right away, without any argument at all, as Lekawa quickly began looking for various other things that she could also toss into the cauldron here. Tunka and I also bombarded the monster with several of our respective attacks while the other two Sailor Scouts were otherwise occupied here as already stated. Lekawa eventually found some medium-grade explosives and various military-style weapons of various kinds in a somewhat nearby abandoned building, and she soon threw them into the rapidly-heating cauldron as well, if needed and/or desired, for that matter. Weapons such as grenades, for example. Eventually, Gosedei finished the necessary cork and threw it towards the required cauldron. Before it even landed at the top of the cauldron, though, the rather strange bird that had landed on Lekawa's shoulder here suddenly flew towards the cork of sorts, and grabbed it up. They somehow carried it to just a bit short of the cauldron, and suddenly dropped it on a bombing-style run towards it. When they suddenly dropped it, the cork of sorts quite quickly lodged itself where needed here. When that was done, and we all knew that well enough here, Lekawa shouted, "Gosedei and Tunka, get everyone else out of here that you can well enough. No matter who they might be. Oshimuke and I will have to finish this monster ourselves, and we don't want anyone else around here when we do so, if it can possibly be avoided at all!" The bird flew away, somehow seeming to know what was about to happen here, by the way.

Gosedei asked me, very briefly, "What should I do, Oshimuke?"

"Do as Lekawa directs, Gosedei. She's right. We do have to finish this monster ourselves. Get everyone else out of here that you can. We'll both join you as soon as we can. Now go!"

"Be careful!" Gosedei called out to me.  
"No doubt! Now go, before it's too late!"

Gosedei and Tunka then left, taking as many people out of the immediate battle area as they then could, of course. When everyone else was out who could get out well enough, either by themselves or with help, no matter who they were here, as far as they then could here, in the remaining available time to them all, Lekawa said, "It's time, Oshimuke, to end this monster's existence!"

I nodded. About five or so seconds later, at most, we unleashed our finishing attacks, which combined on the way to the monster's current location, of course. No more than about ten or so seconds after we both unleashed those same attacks towards it, from totally-opposite directions, the cauldron turned into molten steel, very briefly, before vaporizing in a nearly-deafening volcano-like explosion into mere dust with the monster still inside it, of course. Vaporizing to a 99.844 percent level, anyway. The resulting dust briefly landed on the ground between us both, before suddenly vanishing just as quickly as its now-destroyed owner had come in the first place to our world for energy-gathering Negaverse-related purposes.

After the dust from the now-destroyed Negaverse-created monster vanished rather suddenly, Lekawa and I quickly fled the location of the battle, for the obvious reasons here, of course. We eventually caught up with Gosedei and Tunka, who'd brought everyone that they could away from the general area of the battle because of our recently-given orders. They were both still powered up, and even as we found them both, the earlier-drained people's energies began to return to their respective owners, for that matter. As they all began to stir, we quickly looked them all over, just to be sure that they'd all be okay, hopefully enough.

Seeing as they were all quite likely to live, or at least most of them were, if not all of them, we soon called the necessary people in the area, before briefly hiding ourselves, just as soon as we could do so well enough here. Even Tunka, of course.

We briefly split up with each other, and hid in several nearby alleys long enough for each of us to power down again, no matter who we were. However, we didn't encounter Sentinel Tunka again for the rest of the current day or night. Or at least the certain young man who was actually Sentinel Tunka, as far as we all then knew in our respective lives, anyway.

After we all powered down well enough, then, I eventually found the other four girls that I'd been walking with earlier. First Ryoko, nearest the place where we'd earlier heard the sounds of struggle and the otherworldly sounds. Then Sable, about a block or so away from where the majority of the battle had been fought earlier, near at least two young women with quite torn clothing and a great deal of bare skin for them her, for certain reasons that'd eventually become known to us here in a little while. If not even more than two such women, by the way. Then Chinatsu, as she worriedly huddled behind a rather large dumpster, hoping to avoid becoming someone's prey. Specifically the prey of the now-destroyed monster that we'd all seen earlier. And finally Eri, who had somehow actually gotten herself trapped in a storeroom with a lot of metal tools and things in it, quite unintentionally and quite unexpectedly.

We generally found each other in very short order, more or less. It took most of us at least a few minutes more than we'd thought it would to find Eri and free her from where she was trapped currently, but we somehow managed to do all those things by 6:45 in the evening, local time. Not Sable, for she'd stayed with the women that we found with torn clothing and much bare skin, in fact. After the rest of us freed Eri from where she'd gotten trapped, I sent Ryoko to get her mother, and Eri to call the police. Both girls set off for the necessary places near here while Chinatsu, Sable, and I stayed with the women that Sable had just found, by the way.

Ten minutes or so later, at most, both the police and Nakane-sensei arrived where they were now needed here. As soon as they arrived, along with Ryoko and Eri, as needed, we told them what we knew so far about each of the women. The police and Nakane-sensei took our information as necessary here, of course. And two ambulances arrived to take the women to the nearest suitable enough medical facility. Which was a good-sized hospital, in fact. We accompanied them to that medical facility, for the women wished us to be with them for at least a while, if at all possible here.

After we arrived at that medical facility, Nakane-sensei and other medical personnel there soon took the women to the necessary rooms elsewhere in it. Nakane-sensei soon said, in very short order, "Chelsea, you will want to call your parents, I think, and tell them what happened, just as soon as possible. Chinatsu, take Sable, Ryoko, and Eri back to our place, please, and stay there until further notice. Chelsea, after you call your parents, come find me, if at all possible."

We all did just as Nakane-sensei told us to do here. No matter what it was, we still did so. I called my parents, and told them that there were at least two young women who had just been mistreated while Sable and I were still walking earlier with Ryoko, Chinatsu, and Eri. I told them all that I could, and said nothing to them that I couldn't, for all the obvious reasons.

In fact, the various women that we'd found earlier had each been beaten and/or violated in a very personal way indeed. One of them was even married, as we later learned, but we teenagers didn't yet know that here well enough. The other one or ones weren't yet, if they ever would be, for that matter.

For the sake of moral decency, at least, I'll not go into too great detail here and now, if I ever do, about just how badly they were beaten and/or violated in a very personal way indeed. But, people, suffice it to say that it was really quite barbaric indeed, to put it very, very, very, very mildly, if at all possible, here. And nobody of either human gender should ever be treated like that, if they don't actually deserve to be treated that way at all, in their own mortal lives. Anyone who ever treats another person or any other persons like that in their own mortal lives without sufficient enough cause is most definitely worth the death penalty. Or they're most definitely worth life in prison without even the slimmest conceivable possibility of a judicial parole wherever the death penalty isn't actually able to be imposed for any reason or reasons whatsoever. That's if and whenever they're proven unquestionably guilty beyond a shadow of reasonable doubt of such a crime or of such crimes, as far as I am concerned in my own mortal life, by the way, of course.

Mother eventually asked, "Where is Sable?"

"At Ryoko's. I will be going back there again after Nakane-sensei and I are done here as much as we can be on the current date. I will see you later, I expect."

Eventually, Mother hung up her end of the line, and I went to find Nakane-sensei. I eventually asked her how the women all were, when I found her well enough again, and she said, "They'll all live. However, they were generally beaten up quite a bit indeed. The police are now looking for the men that committed the related crimes here, of course, Chelsea."

"Are you done for the night here, then, Nakane-sensei?"

"I've done all that I can do for any or all of them. At least as of the present time, anyway. So I suppose we can go back to my place for the rest of the night, Chelsea."

"How are we going to explain this to Sable, if needed?"

"I don't know, Chelsea. As far as you know, have your parents discussed this sort of thing with her before, by any chance?"

"I'm not quite sure, Nakane-sensei."

"Call me Sayana when we're not associating with each other as doctor and patient, please."

"Really?"

"You've spent enough time with me since you came here to do that, I think, Chelsea."

I thought about that fact, for a few seconds, and then said, "Fine, I will. Anything else, Sayana?"

"Not at the moment. I suppose we'd best be off here, then, Chelsea."

We soon arrived back at the Nakanes' apartment suite again, in fact. And Sable hurried right to me when we did so. After we were all in Ryoko's room here well enough, behind a securely-locked door for it, Sable eventually asked me, "Chelsea, what happened to those women, if I might ask?"

"Sable, they were generally raped. That means that they were generally violated in a very personal manner indeed, if they were raped by men not actually known to us at all. They didn't actually wish to be, if they were. But they still were, if they were, just the same. The police are quite earnestly looking for all their various assailants, even as we speak. But it's still not known if they can all be caught and made to pay for what they've just done to those women somehow, in fact."

"And if they aren't, Chelsea?"

"Then others may be in quite considerable danger until they're caught and dealt with as needed, of course, Sable."

"No matter who they are, anyone?" asked Sable.

"Yes, quite unfortunately so, Sable," said Chinatsu.

We all talked for just a little while longer about what had just happened near us, until we couldn't stand doing so any more at the current time. When that then happened for us all, Sayana quickly changed the subject just as soon as she possibly could do that here well enough somehow. And she changed it to something as far away from that sort of thing as she possibly could. She changed it to animals that we liked seeing in our lives, and ones that we didn't. Eventually, we all calmed down quite a bit, and began trying to enjoy ourselves as much as we currently could here, of course.

We did this for at least an hour or two, then, until about 10:30 pm or so local time, more or less. After we'd done that for a long enough period of time to suit us all enough here, Sayana eventually left us all alone for the rest of the night. And she left us all alone in Ryoko's room, of course.

Once she did so well enough to suit the rest of us quite sufficiently enough here, Sable soon asked Ryoko, "Are things often like this in your particular part of Tokyo?"

"Not usually, as far as I know. Perhaps one of the various gangs in the city is making a push for more territory somewhere here in Shibuya. I really don't know if that's true or not here, though, Sable."

"Is there much crime in this part of the city, Ryoko?" I asked.

"No, most of the crime in the city seems to be in certain other parts of it, I think. Like in Yochubaisu-ku, if I remember things of that particular nature well enough here and now in my life, Chelsea. Yochubaisu-ku is roughly south and/or southwest of Shibuya-ku, and I've heard from several other people who happen to live around here that a lot of the local gangs seem to be based out of that part of Tokyo. At least every once in a while, that is. Roppongi-ku and Suchukai-ku don't seem to have a lot of gang-related activity in them, and neither does SEST-ku."

"Are things often quite peaceful here in Shibuya?" asked Sable.

"As a matter of fact, they often are, Sable. Though rumors of unusual activity have started to pop up from time to time around here regarding a strange young man who seems to be searching for certain long-lost people and/or things of his knowledge since sometime around the beginning of our respective schools' school years. He hasn't somehow been identified by any name, as of yet. And he somehow appears to be a rather mysterious figure, whoever he might happen to be in his own life. He seems to be able to pop in and out of various situations without being able to be found easily enough by anyone. He has occasionally been suspected of appearing at assorted art-related exhibitions, for example. But that hasn't yet been confirmed sufficiently well by anyone who may or may not have seen him before at such events here in the city," said Ryoko.

"Does he often leave clues to who he might be?" asked Eri.

"No, I don't believe so. He is rather mysterious, and hard to find, it seems, Eri. Whenever people try to get a good enough visual impression of him, through things like cameras, for example, they are always unable to do so. For his appearance seems to be shrouded somehow, at such times, for some yet-unknown reason or reasons, in fact."

Chinatsu asked, "What do we know about him so far, then, Ryoko?"

"He never seems to appear at certain kinds of events during the daylight hours, whatever kinds of events they might be. Or at least not with the same basic appearance that he often has at those kinds of times, anyway, I believe, Chinatsu. He's been known to leave usually-small unsigned cards with bits of apparently-random poetry on them at least every so often whenever he appears at certain events in the local area, for some yet-unknown reason. The Greater Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's officers in its Unidentified/Identified Contact Section have tried to put those bits of poetry together to try to find out who he is, but they haven't yet been able to do so well enough yet, it seems. If they'll ever be able to, of course."

"The Unidentified/Identified Contact Section? What's that, Ryoko?" I asked.

"According to my Uncle Hiroki, that part of the GTMPD is the just-created part that was somewhat hastily formed about two or so months ago, more or less. It was formed not all that long after some rather weird things indeed started to happen anywhere at all in the city that might not necessarily be explainable in normal enough ways, Chelsea," answered Ryoko.

"What else do you know about them, Ryo-san?" asked Sable

"The police are now starting to search for the Sailor Scouts that started to appear about two or so weeks ago, from what Uncle Hiroki told me this past Sunday, in fact, Sable."

"What do they actually think of them, Ryoko?" I asked.

"I really don't know that just yet, if I ever will, Chelsea. But they seem to be leaning at least a little bit in favor of them at the present time over the monsters that have recently been appearing in the city, as far as I can currently tell, I think."

Sable and Eri went to sleep in their sleeping bags that they'd earlier brought into Ryoko's bedroom by 11 pm local time on Friday, October 19, 2007. After they both did so, that soon left just Chinatsu and Ryoko still awake with me in Ryoko's bedroom here, of course.

Ryoko asked, "Chelsea, would you like to live back in the United States again someday, if at all possible, by any chance at all?"

"Of course I'd like to do that, Ryoko. But evidently I'm supposed to be here now, and not there, due to my current presence here in Japan with the rest of my immediate family."

"I suppose that's logical enough here, Chelsea." Ryoko said, "People often seem to want to be where they're actually not in their lives. What is the Los Angeles area like there, as far as you know?"

"It's often quite busy, and often quite populated, in fact, Ryoko. Not quite as populated as the Tokyo metropolitan area, mind you, but still quite populated, just the same," I answered.

"What's the market for singers in your country, Chelsea?" asked Chinatsu.

"It depends on what kind or kinds of music you might be talking about here. Country music is often quite popular music for people, and so is at least some rock music, if not a lot of it. We have a wide variety of musical tastes for people in our country. Classical music doesn't seem to be as popular as it once might have been, but many people still perform it for a living in various productions of whatever kind or kinds, Chinatsu. My tastes, in terms of music, generally run towards country, bluegrass, Christian music, and classical music, with some occasional popular and perhaps some light rock included every so often."

"Do you have any favorite artists in particular, for example, Chelsea?" asked Ryoko.

"People like Kathy Mattea, Anne Murray, Amy Grant, Gloria Estefan, and Randy Travis, for just five examples of people who I really happen to like a lot of music by. I also really like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, for that matter, Ryoko."

"I'm not too familiar with most, if not all, of those people, Chelsea," said Ryoko, as 11:15 pm came and went for all of us here. Local time, of course.

Chinatsu said, "I think I've heard of Mozart at least a few times before in my life, Ryoko. I tend more towards certain people like Patty Loveless and Alison Krauss, with at least a bit of Handel, Bach, and Gershwin thrown in every so often, though, if I'm not too mistaken here. If not a lot of any or all of those three classical composers, that is."

"I know who they are, Ryoko," I said. "So you're more a fan of bluegrass and classical music, Chinatsu, in your own life?"

"I suppose so, if I remember their primary musical genres well enough, of course, Chelsea," answered Chinatsu, as we all then began getting ready to go to sleep anywhere at all in Ryoko's bedroom as well.

It wasn't too much more time before we all were in our respective sleeping bags or bed, and before all the lights that then needed to be off in the room were off well enough, in fact. All the necessary lights in the room were totally off again by 11:30 pm local time. And we were each drifting off into any of the countless lands of dreams that might or might not actually exist in the Universe not too long after that, by the way. Even I was doing so not too long after all the necessary lights were off again in Ryoko's bedroom, for that matter. And so I slept, while also being not all that likely to arise again from my sleeping bag before 7 or so in the morning of Saturday, October 20, 2007, of course.

* * *

Chapter Six will follow as soon as I can finish writing it well enough, people. Enough said. The Universal Storyteller out. 


	7. Chapter Six:  Heartquakes In Tokyo

Here's Chapter Six. I hope you think it worth your time. This chapter of the story will have three Scout-type battles, two new Scouts, and at least some verbal sparring, if not a lot of it, among other things, just for your information here, people. Enough said.

* * *

Chapter Six: Heartquakes In Tokyo

The following Sunday, which was Sunday, October 21, 2007, I saw Serizawa-san again. As with our earlier meeting, he was standing outside the gymnasium while I was passing by on the way back home from the library that I'd been in before our first meeting roughly two weeks before. At the time, he was alone. But only briefly, perhaps. It was now just after 2:30 in the afternoon, local time, in fact.

He saw me before I did him, and said, "Hello, Baby. I hope life has treated you well since our last meeting, by the way." Serizawa was wearing essentially the same outfit that he'd been wearing the first time that we'd met each other around here, for that matter.

"Still annoying, I see, Serizawa-san, with that sort of thing here."

Just then, two other boys popped out of the gymnasium, and they were yet-unknown to me. But they wouldn't always be. They weren't Serizawa's friends Shoyo or Nobuo, but two boys that neither of us yet knew very well. The two boys soon took one look at me apiece, and then at each other, before asking each other, "Wow! Who's the gorgeous girl that we're now seeing out here?"

"I don't see one such girl here, boys. You must be imagining things," I eventually managed to get out, after unexpectedly finding myself turning a little bit red here.

Serizawa-san quickly said, "Boys, she's meant to be mine only, so please take your own behinds back to Roppongi and Suchukai where they come from, and go look for girls in your own parts of Tokyo."

The black-haired boy from the part of Tokyo officially known as Suchukai-ku, who we all later came to know quite well indeed as Meiji Osugisai, said, "And pass up such a fine young woman as her? Not on your own mortal life, Juuban Boy." Meiji was three-quarters Asian and one-quarter African, by the way. At the present time, he was wearing a mostly green, bronze, cobalt blue, and silver outfit. He was about 5'8" and about 160 pounds, at nearly 15 years of age, with a considerably darker skin tone than any of the rest of us here. A backpack that was quite similarly colored to his outfit was now on his back, for that matter. His thick and wavy black hair was usually about shoulder-length in a ponytail often secured with a cobalt blue and bronze-trimmed mostly green hair ribbon at both ends of it. Especially at the end of the ponytail opposite the end nearest his scalp, in fact. His usual hairstyle seemed quite reminiscent of typical hairstyles for males during the Colonial times in the United States, though not entirely reminiscent of them. For it often looked like a single thunderbolt wound around each of his ears, in terms of how the hair was cut around them both. Not that his skin or his ears were actually cut that way, of course. But just that the hair around his ears was generally cut in such a manner, at least in terms of how they generally looked for him in his own life. The quite-unusual hairstyle somehow reminded me at least a little bit, if not a lot, of just how Eri's hair was now cut near her own ears, as well.

"Ditto," said the mostly black-haired boy from Roppongi-ku, who we all later came to know quite well indeed as Kunitaka Okano. He himself was three-quarters Asian and one-quarter Caucasian. Kunitaka was now wearing a mostly gold, black, and orange outfit here. His next birthday, which would actually be his 17th, would come around in February of 2008. And he was now about 6'2" and about 180 pounds, more or less. He currently had a bag colored similarly to his outfit hanging from his left shoulder, and in his right hand, he was also holding a water bottle. His roughly mid-back-length hair that he normally wore completely unbound in a cape-like style had a few dyed streaks of gold and orange in it, for that matter.

"She's meant only to be mine, once and for all, eventually. And the future will prove it, I'm quite sure, you two boys!" said Serizawa-san. "I've seen the future, and it has just me being with her once and for all."

"The future's not necessarily set in stone, Mr. Epoch Studier," said the boy who was mostly in gold, black and orange, to Serizawa-san. "Just so you all know that here well enough. I'll be winning her heart, I'm quite sure, instead of either of you two."

"Don't be so sure of that, Shiny," said the boy mostly in green.

"We'll see, Shocker. We'll see," said Shiny, who was the boy mostly in gold, to the boy mostly in green..

I whistled briefly, just to get all three boys' attentions quite well enough here, "I'm not anyone's prize at all, boys. And I'm most certainly not a piece of property or meat for boys like you three currently seem to consider me here. If any of you boys are to ever win me and my heart forever, you most certainly will have to win my heart first somehow. And I really don't see that happening anytime in the near future, if ever at all, in fact. You boys are each really going to have to work quite hard indeed to somehow manage to get me and my heart to be yours forever."

"But the future is quite clear. You're meant to be with me, Hunter-san," said Serizawa-san.

"If God ever makes that to be the case, so be it. But I really don't believe yet that it'll ever be the case, if I ever will, Serizawa-san. Until it is, then, you boys will each have to work very hard in order to win my heart and/or my affections. I'm not just some girl that you might be able to pick up anywhere on the typical street in this world of ours. If you boys ever want to win my heart, then you most definitely must somehow earn it," I soon said to all three of them here, as I then resumed walking back home again. The boys soon began to try to follow me home, of course.

Serizawa-san said, "You don't want to give us a chance to win your heart, I suppose, Hunter-san."

"Not until I know you all at least a little bit better, for the obvious reasons, Serizawa-san."

"But I'm the best choice for you to have as a boyfriend and/or husband in the future, Hunter-san."

"Then you'll just have to prove it to me, somehow, Serizawa-san. Calling me 'Baby' won't convince me of that, I'm quite sure."

Eventually, I was able to somehow slip away from them all, and hide for a while where they couldn't find me. But not before Serizawa-san said, "Watch out for more trouble tonight, Hunter-san. Trouble is apparently starting to brew somewhere near the Chrysanthemum Mall, and I expect there to be something big going down around there tonight, for some reason. You might want to be really careful about just where you're going tonight, by the way."

"So you say, Serizawa-san. I fully intend to enjoy myself tonight, if I possibly can, by the way. And not even you are going to keep me from doing that, somehow, if I can possibly avoid it at all."

Before Terumoto could reply to that well enough, then, I was too far away from him for him to do that well enough without making a considerable scene here. I arrived home again at about 3 pm local time, more or less. And soon after doing that, I arrived back in my and Sable's bedroom. I eventually found her working even more on her quilt, once I had changed my clothes into more casual clothes than I'd worn to the aforementioned library earlier in the day. She was in the process of sewing two more previously-unseen patches on the quilt, in fact, when I found her working on it again.

She had already sewn three sides of the fifth patch and two sides of the sixth patch to the top of the quilt's surface, with the fifth patch being placed on the opposite side of the fourth one from the third one. And the sixth one next to that one. The only side of the fifth patch that had yet to be secured to the rest of the quilt's top surface was the bottom edge of it. While the two yet-unsewn sides of the sixth patch were the bottom and left edges,from Sable's perspective, as it spread out over Sable's lap as she currently sat in one of her very own chairs. From my perspective, though, the sixth patch's outer edge was to my right, of course.

On the quilt's now-fifth patch, there was a somewhat stylized evergreen-like tree that supported a somewhat multi-coin-like A mostly in navy blue and brown. Most of the tree, except for the trunk, was quite green, and so was the visible ground under it, of course. The basic background of the patch, sky-wise, also shaded somewhat gradually from light blue to navy blue, from the top of the patch to at least the middle of it, which was just about where the visible horizon for it actually began. Primarily in navy blue, then, and in the approximate shape of a smile, perhaps, the single word "Refuge" in Latin was also present for it, in fact. That Latin word was "Refugium."

As for the quilt's now-sixth patch, it mainly bore a pink heart with a red-trimmed gold five-pointed star inside it and with five mostly white volleyballs forming a circle around the starred heart on a mostly silver background, by the way. The heart was rather stylized, of course, and the star's points were not all the same size. They all were actually asymmetrical, with the smallest two being roughly equivalent to a person's arms, so to speak, if the star were actually a person instead. The topmost point was the biggest point present for the star on the heart, as well. Between each of the points, then, a single script-type letter primarily, though not totally, in bright red now resided. Going clockwise from between the fourth and fifth points of the somewhat unusual star, for that matter, an S. Between the fifth and first points, an I. Between the first and second, an L. Between the second and third, an E. And an A between the third and fourth. The volleyballs also separated the letters from each other, where the star's points didn't.

I soon asked, "Do these represent our next two Sailors of a sort, Sable?"

"Of course they do. They will both join us very soon, and they will join our group together. There are plenty more coming our way, in due time, including at least a few Sentinels. But the other Sentinels will not awaken for at least a few days from now. And not before we're joined by these next two Sailors, in any case at all, Chelsea."

"How come you now have six patches on the quilt's top row?" I eventually asked her, at about 3:20 pm local time.

"Because I found out somehow that I have at least enough room on this quilt's sides to put 36 patches on a side. And the square root of 36 is 6, as you should know by now quite well. I was really only expecting to be able to get 16 patches on each side. But it actually turns out that I can get 36 patches on a side for the quilt if all the patches are the same size, Chelsea. This is going to be a much bigger project than I originally thought it'd be at the start of the school year. We should have plenty of people joining our group by the end of the school year, I figure. Perhaps at least enough to be able to fill out at least the top side of this quilt here, anyway. If not even more than that."

"What if we happen to eventually have more people in our group than the number of patches that this quilt will evidently be able to hold, Sable?"

"Then I'll obviously start at least one other quilt, if not more than one, of course, Chelsea."

"Why might you want to put patches on both sides of the quilt, then?"

"This quilt will eventually be hung in our future headquarters, wherever it might be. It hasn't been located yet, I must say, but it will be hung there, just the same. I don't know where, of course. But I do know that it will be, just the same, Chelsea." It was now just about 3:30 in the afternoon, local time, of Sunday, October 21, 2007, by the way.

"How many people do you expect us to see joining us by the end of the school year, at least?"

"Perhaps at least a few dozen, if I can remember some recent enough dreams of mine well enough. I have just learned that at least four others have begun to awaken from some sort of long slumber, but that they aren't yet close enough to be identified by name. The next two Sailors are just about to awaken, and they will represent the worlds of Anago and Silea. The next four, I'm not yet sure of what worlds or stars that they might eventually represent for us somewhere else in the Universe."

"I don't recall any worlds by those names. I wonder where they are."

"Perhaps they're in the same solar system that Oshimuke, Tunka, Gosedei, and Lekawa are."

"That'd be logical enough, I suppose, Sable."

"A dream I had last night seems to suggest that they're in a system with one star, nineteen planets, and at least 140 or so moons of various sizes and shapes. I don't know its name, and where it might be, but the dream still seemed to suggest to me that there are going to be many other people like us in our growing group. I only saw it from what appeared to be a nearby solar system in some yet-unidentifiable Galaxy. I haven't yet been able to identify the Galaxy or solar system in question. I also dreamed of a certain solar system where there were at least nine known planets and perhaps hundreds of moons present for it. I don't know exactly where this other solar system was located, mind you, Chelsea. But it still seemed at least vaguely familiar to me during the related dream for some yet-unknown reason. It seemed to be sort of an unusual combination of medieval times and the modern day, more or less, in fact. Many people were evidently present from several of those planets and moons, at least, if not also from the system's star, for that matter. And there were many beings there that were quite often obviously not from that same solar system, for whatever reason or reasons, as well," she eventually said at around 3:45 pm, local time, more or less.

"So if that's true, and each world or star from the first system you saw has at least one Scout and at least one Sentinel representing it, then you're talking about our group having at least 160 members in it?"

"Obviously. Which would quite naturally require the making of at least two more quilts of this same size to show them and their patches as required in our future headquarters, you know. Perhaps I won't necessarily have to work on those quilts alone once and for all. But we'll just have to see how many of them are also able and willing to quilt with me, Chelsea, if there are any people from our group interested sufficiently in helping me make them. Won't we?"

"I suppose so." We then spent most of the next hour or so in relative silence, until she decided to take a short nap for a while in her own bed. She put away all her quilting supplies here for a while where she normally would keep them, and then curled up for a while in her bed again. It was nearly 5 pm local time here when she finally did so.

I soon decided to get myself two sandwiches, at least, for a snack. I chose to use whole wheat bread when I then made the sandwiches for myself, not too much later, here. I also poured myself a moderately tall glass of chocolate milk, as the first four desired bread slices were toasting in a nearby toaster in our family's kitchen/dining room area. When the toast was sufficiently ready here for me, I then withdrew jars of creamy peanut butter, blueberry preserves, and grape jelly from the necessary refrigerator in it. I soon spread out the various sandwich ingredients as needed and desired by me here. Between the top and second slices of bread, I spread the blueberry preserves where necessary. Between the second and third, the peanut butter. And between the third and bottom, the grape jelly, of course. Then I put all four of the first sandwich's slices together as the situation then required that I do so, for that matter.

With that done, I then reached into a nearby cabinet and withdrew a few oatmeal and raisin cookies that Mother and Gabrielle had earlier made together. Not too many, for all the obvious reasons, but still four of them, just the same. I put the cookies on the same plate that I was using for my sandwiches, and put four more slices of bread in the toaster, so that I could make myself another sandwich.

While the bread for the second sandwich was toasting, I then took three big bowls of three different salad types out, and put them near my plate on the same counter it was now on. I waited patiently for the toast to pop up again as I briefly thought about all four of my previous battles as Sailor Oshimuke in relative silence here. When the second four slices of toast popped out again, I then began spreading salad on the resulting toast as desired. Between the top and second slice, I put some tuna salad. Between the second and third, some fruit salad. And between the third and bottom, some potato salad. I didn't put any more bread slices into the toaster, though, either before or after I did that here. I then pressed the four slices together as needed here. Then I put the twist-tie back on the bag that my now-toasted bread had come from earlier. I put away all everything else that I then had to, before dropping my eating utensils into the necessary nearby sink, of course.

Two minutes or so later, at most, then, I left our family's kitchen/dining room area again. I headed straight back to my and Sable's bedroom, and found her still asleep there when I got back. I read from assorted theological texts I had in my personal library while I had my sandwiches, cookies, and milk, until about 7, when Ryoko paged me with her new communicator.

I answered on the third ring, and asked what was up. She said, in a very quiet whisper, "Trouble near your school. Apparently our enemies are on the move again, Chelsea."

I picked up on that sort of thing immediately, and began doing the exact same thing here, for all the obvious reasons, "Understood. Sable and I will be on our way shortly, if at all possible, Ryoko."

"We'll meet you at the trouble spot soon, I hope."

"We?" I asked her, even as I began shaking Sable awake here.

"Yes. That strange bird came to my house and alerted me to the current trouble, in fact, Chelsea. He didn't say much to me, other than my service was now required. I'm being taken to my friend's place in Juuban by Mother. She has no idea why I'm actually needed there right now, however."

"Okay. How far away from my school, then?" Sable stirred, and drowsily opened her eyes partially to look at me briefly here. As she did so, I hurriedly put my remaining food and drink items in a small refrigerator elsewhere in my room, in fact.

"A few blocks, at most, perhaps, according to Occasero. I believe it's within four or so blocks of your school, if what he told me about it is accurate enough here."

"Occasero?" I asked.

"The bird I just told you about."

"Understood, Ryoko. Sable and I will meet you there shortly, as planned, then." She then closed her communications channel without another word, no more than a few seconds later. I wouldn't hear her voice again at least until after Sayana dropped her off at her friends, for all the obvious reasons, of course.

After Ryoko signed off, Sable asked, while rubbing her eyes to get the inevitable sand in them from her sleeping time out, "What's going on, Chelsea?"

"Potential attack near my school. We have to go there, and we have to do it without the rest of our family hearing or seeing us do so here, in fact."

"What time is it, Chelsea?" She began to kick off her blankets here, in very short order.

"Just after 7 pm local time, Sable."

She quickly donned a sweater, jeans, and tennis shoes. I then tossed her a coat from her closet, with her permission, just before I quickly grabbed up one of mine and put it on as well. We put both our watches and anything else on our persons that we then had to, of course. As we left, we told Father and Mother that we were both going for a bit of a walk with each other to get some exercise and get to know each other even better in our respective lives. Father said, "Supper should be ready within an hour or two, perhaps, girls."

"We'll return to being back here fairly soon, we hope. But we've not walked together for at least a day, perhaps, Father," I said here, with a bit of a smile, in fact. Which was essentially the truth here, after we'd gotten back from the slumber party at Ryoko's the day before.

"Very well. You may leave. But please be careful, then, girls, if at all possible," he said.

"God willing, we'll both be just fine when we come back here sometime later on, Father," I said. Two minutes or so later, at most, then, we were both standing just outside our home's front door. And heading in the direction of my school, not too long after that, of course.

Just as soon as we could both duck into a quite safe place for us to power up into our respective Scout states in, we then did that here. And we most definitely wasted no time at all in our saying of the necessary words for each of us here, for that matter, quite obviously enough. About twenty seconds after we each said the various words that we had to say, at most, we were both completely powered up, and were already running the rest of the way towards my school in the local area.

When we arrived at the necessary battle location, then, a rather good-sized monster was already battling Occasero, Hatargo, Sentinel Tunka, Sailor Lekawa, and at least two other people who currently appeared to be innocent civilians, if not even more than just that many people or animals here. We both immediately entered the current fight, quite obviously enough. We wasted absolutely no time at all here with unnecessary speeches to the monster, when we then did so. For many innocent civilians were quite obviously unconscious, at least, as of that particular moment in time here.

It took all of us working together here at least an hour or so to somehow weaken the Negaverse-created monster enough for Lekawa and Gosedei to be able to trap him well enough inside another cauldron of sorts. If not even longer than that, in fact. But, eventually, Lekawa was somehow able to construct a fifty-foot-tall and twenty-foot-wide cauldron to hold the monster well enough for a long enough period of time here. Gosedei quickly wove the necessary cork of sorts, and the strange bird caught it in the air after she threw it towards the cauldron in question here. Occasero soon dropped it where needed for the cauldron, and after he did, Lekawa and I ordered a mass evacuation of the battle's immediate area, of course. Tunka, Gosedei, and Hatargo especially didn't waste any unnecessary time in getting as many people out of the area as they could get out of it here before Lekawa and I would have to finish off the monster here.

Lekawa hadn't been able to toss any sufficiently pre-made explosives into the cauldron this time. For none had actually been available for potential use against our opponent here, seeing as where the current battle's location was here. In fact, the battle's current location wasn't very far at all from a fairly good-sized office supplies store in our own part of Tokyo, for that matter. She even had to dumpster-dive in several nearby dumpsters, so to speak, for various things that she could throw into the just-made cauldron with the soon-to-be-destroyed Negaverse-created monster, by the way. Or at least she had to do that to at least some degree here, if not to a great degree, anyway. She'd eventually improvised several dozen assorted weapons of various sizes, shapes, and appearances with those various garbage items she'd found and recovered. No matter what kind or kinds of weapons they each were here in actual reality, she still did so here somehow. And she even changed their respective states of matter if and wherever possible and necessary, through the rather specific use of her fire-based abilities, somehow.

Not too long after Lekawa and I were left alone in the battle's immediate area, we then finished off the monster that we'd just been fighting in the necessary manner or manners. The resulting dust only remained visible for a few rather brief moments, at most, before vanishing completely from our views here. We briefly conversed with each other, as we then cleared the area, for the obvious reasons.

Just before we were about to power down, however, Occasero returned to where we'd just ducked into a nearby deserted alley, and told us, as safely as he possibly could, in whatever way or ways he possibly could, "At least one other Negaverse-created monster, if not more than one, is currently in the general area of the Chrysanthemum Mall, you two. Don't power down just yet, if you can both possibly avoid it at all. You're both still needed as Scouts here tonight." We didn't know this just yet, but Occasero could actually change his size, at least, if and whenever needed, desired, and/or possible, in his own life.

So we both didn't power down just yet here, of course. He soon led us to the place where the next bit of trouble was now going on elsewhere in the local area, and then we both joined that fight as well, in due time. It was then just about 8:45 pm, local time, when we both did so here. And there were at least several hundred, if not at least a thousand, innocent civilians now trying to leave the mall and its general area when we both showed up well enough in them. For at least six dozen, if not even more than that number of, identical robots were now going after them all, under the current leadership of still another Negaverse-created monster. Mainly to try to hopefully be able to gather their respective life energies for the Negaverse, if not for any other reason whatsoever at the same time, of course, people.

Gosedei, Tunka, and Hatargo were all at least holding their own, and so were at least two or three of the civilians then present there, in the new fight. But several hundred law enforcement personnel and several hundred Japanese military personnel were actually having quite a bit more trouble than they were, for all the obvious reasons, when we both got there with the still-small Occasero well enough. Lekawa and I joined the fight as well just as soon as we could, and helped out as much as we then could here. It took several attacks from all of us who were Sentinels and/or Scouts to make the robots stop attacking for at least a little while here, in fact. At the very least, if not many of them, by the way.

Eventually, the still-active robots drew back from us all for at least a few moments, as if to try to figure out how best to proceed here against us all. The monster congregated with them all for at least a little while, as we did the same for ourselves as well, of course. By this particular time at night, there were still about ten to twenty of the Negaverse-created robots and/or monsters left to fight against just about that many civilians, about 40 or so police officers, about 40 or so military personnel, and the rest of us sentient enough beings here.

Occasero eventually decided to transform himself into his much larger form of actual being, just before we all found ourselves resuming our current fight here. So he quickly found the best possible place that he then could find in the current area here, of course. Which happened to be a nearby alley, in fact.

He flew into it a few feet above the ground as a rather small and rather strange bird, and came out much larger than he'd gone into it, by the way. He was normally not very big, but when he came out, he was much bigger than he'd been before going into that alley.

As we all would later find out, somehow, in due time, Occasero normally had much of his body largely covered by scales possibly quite similar to those of a typical fantasy-style dragon or a typical knight's suit of armor. Much of his head, legs, and double wings were covered by dozens, if not hundreds or thousands, of feathers. His ears were rather elephant-like, it seemed. His beak was raptor-like. He had two five-toed feet, with three toes in the front and two in the back for each of them. He also had two human-like arms and hands with four fingers and a thumb apiece. He had two prehensile tongues, one above the other, in his mouth behind his beak. He normally had between 60 and 480 shark-like teeth inside his mouth as well. His usual physical height from the bottoms of his feet to the top of his head was about 2'8", more or less. But it could often increase to a physical height of about 20'8", if and/or whenever necessary, desired, and/or possible for him in his life. His usual physical weight was about 20 pounds, more or less, but he could at least occasionally increase his weight to about 840 pounds, under the same general conditions as he could basically change his current height in it periodically. The primary colors of his feathers and scales were red, tan, and purple. Occasionally, other colors such as gold, silver, and bronze, at least, if not others as well, might appear for them in his life. His usual wingspan was about equal to his usual height, but he could increase that figure to somewhere around 13'8", more or less, if and/or whenever needed, desired, and/or possible for him, by the way. Under his rather thick scales, in most, though not all, cases for him in it, there was a Lekawan symbol hidden somewhere. At the present time, it hadn't yet been seen by any mortal here. Or, at least, not during the current fight here near the Chrysanthemum Mall, anyway.

Occasero flew right at several of the nearby robots, as they and their leader began attacking us again here. He tore into them almost like they were paper with his shark-like teeth whenever he could grab at least one of them with either of his prehensile tongues, if not both of them, well enough here. Four of those robots were taken out completely by him no more than about five minutes or so after he flew right at them here. He then dropped what was left of them near us fairly quickly indeed, once they were each sufficiently taken out here, so that we could finish them off before they could escape well enough from the current battle area. And he engaged still others here, if and wherever possible.

He even pulled several other people on our side of the battle out of immediate danger with his hands, his talons, and/or his tongues, if needed, desired, and/or possible, in fact. But he still wasn't able to somehow save everyone else on our side of it from being seriously hurt or worse in the current battle, just the same. For at least a few of the police officers and at least a few of the military personnel were forced into a place where they couldn't escape in time from our current opponents here, quite unfortunately for them all, of course. They couldn't all be defended sufficiently well in time to save them all, so they were all lost in the battle against our current opponents here, quite naturally enough.

But none of the still-nearby or still-present civilians were killed, at least, in the battle here. Several of the lost police officers and/or military personnel were somehow able to shield many of them at least partially, if not totally, by the way. And because of that very fact here, none of those civilians would die here in this battle, rather fortunately enough for them all, for that matter.

Eventually, we managed to destroy the rest of the Negaverse-created opponents that we were then facing here, somehow, on all our parts, whether they were organic or mechanical in their respective natures. But not before at least a dozen or so police officers and/or military personnel were killed by them, and others enough like them here, in that battle we'd been forced to fight near the Chrysanthemum Mall.

After the battle was finally and unquestionably over here, once and for all, various emergency people arrived in the battle's area to take care of all the people they then could take care of well enough here. No matter who they were, in fact. Everyone who somehow survived the battle here, and who'd perhaps been drained of a good portion of their life energies by our now-destroyed opponents, soon unconsciously found themselves getting all those life energies of theirs back. Or nearly all of them, if and/or wherever possible here, for that matter.

As for all of the now-lost people, whatever kinds of people they each were, their mortal physical bodies were gone totally, somehow. Or they were often burned beyond any normal enough means of recognizability, if they weren't always burned to that basic state of being or non-being. There'd most likely be no possible way to recover the necessary bodies of those whose own bodies were gone totally here. Or at least not while using normal enough means, anyway. At least in this lifetime and world, by the way.

We spent only as much time at the second battle's area as we then needed to here, for all the obvious reasons, of course. But eventually, we had to leave for whatever reason or reasons that were then present for each of us here, by the way. First to leave that area, among those of us in our fighting group of sorts, were Tunka, Hatargo, and Occasero. Then Gosedei, Lekawa, and I, after they left the area as well. We all finally left the second battle's immediate area by 10:30 pm local time, at the very latest.

We only powered down when it was safe enough for us all to do that here well enough. And not before then, in any case at all. Ryoko soon went right back to her friend's place elsewhere in Juuban that her mother had earlier brought her to, so that she herself could return home for the rest of the night, while Sable and I went back home again as well.

When we got back, Father and Mother were really upset that it took us both quite a while indeed to get back home from our earlier walking with each other. We told them both that we'd gotten caught up in a battle or two wherever we'd actually found ourselves walking earlier. Though not exactly why we'd done so, for all of the obvious reasons, of course. They were both really glad that we were safe enough to get back home well enough, at least. But they weren't glad at all that it took us so long to do just that, just the same.We both soon got ourselves food and drink from what was left of supper, and went to our room not too long after doing that here. We had our suppers in it for a while, even as we talked about the battle, once we were both sufficiently sure that we'd both not be overheard or seen or anything, while still doing those things with each other.

We stayed up with each other until about 11:30 pm, local time, more or less, before Sable decided to hit the sack, so to speak around that time. We quickly returned all our necessary dirty dishes and things to the necessary place or places elsewhere in our family's residence here, before she did so. Sable retired to her bed for the rest of the night at about 11:50 pm, more or less. I myself stayed up until just about 1:15 in the morning, for I still had at least a few, if not a lot of, other things to do for at least a little while before I could retire myself for the rest of the overnight period, in fact, by the way. I was quite soundly asleep again, as usual, by 1:15 in the morning of Monday, October 22, 2006, then. And so I slept.

* * *

The following Saturday, which was Saturday, October 27, 2007, and while we were just walking around for a little bit, at least, Sable and I both actually saw Eri and Chinatsu hanging out together with each other in an arcade/restaurant elsewhere in Azabu Juuban. This particular arcade/restaurant was called "Ancient Memories Arcade & Restaurant." It'd only opened within the last few months or so, at most, as we all later found out. We didn't know why it was called that, at least not yet, but we'd eventually find out why. When we did, we would all be quite surprised in our lives. Or at least those of us who weren't yet familiar with it quite well enough in them at all would eventually be, anyway. Chinatsu and Eri were currently wearing their respective schools' spare uniforms as semi-casual wear around the local area, for that matter.

I'd never been there before with anyone at all in my life. Not even Sable. And so hadn't most of the rest of us, if not all of the rest of us, up to this particular point in our respective lives, by the way. We both soon found some seats to sit down in somewhere inside the restaurant part of it after first seeing Eri and Chinatsu sitting near each other there. We soon asked them both, "What are you two doing here now?"

"Hanging out with each other for a while, at least, Chelsea and Sable," said Chinatsu, after we'd all ordered food from the necessary restaurant waiter serving four nearby tables and/or booths in the establishment here. Chinatsu said, "Eri and I each thought it might be a really good idea for us to better familiarize ourselves with your particular part of Tokyo here, for some yet-unknown reason or reasons. And we both eventually decided to come to this arcade/restaurant while we were each trying to do that at least a little bit here, if not a lot, in fact, Chelsea."

I then looked around the restaurant for at least a few moments while I was still contemplating my next comment here to them both. The arcade/restaurant had a rather classic feel to it, with several benches and tables each being anchored quite securely indeed to the nearby floor or walls for it, wherever possible. Various game machines were generally along one side wall for the entire establishment with each machine being between at least two ornately-decorated pillars with various sculpted figures quite often present on them as well. Many scrolls of assorted sizes with assorted words on each of them were also present on all the currently-visible walls from where we sat, which was near one of the front corners of the arcade/restaurant. Several shades of red and blue were often present in the establishment. As was white, for that matter. But most of the seats in the place were black, gray, or brown in their colors, not one of the just-mentioned colors here.

The prevailing furnishings of the establishment sort of reminded me at least a little bit, if not a lot, of what Solomon's Temple might just have looked like when it was still in actual existence sometime before the Babylonian Captivity, in fact. Now I had never seen it in actual reality, of course, people. But I'd quite often thought about what it might have looked like in ancient times before its eventual destruction. And especially after I'd finally become a Christian in my very own mortal life, by the way.

It took the first of our food and drink items about five minutes or so, at most, to get to us elsewhere in the restaurant part of the establishment. We received some orange juice in my case, green tea in Chinatsu's case, grape juice in Sable's case, and a peppermint, apple, and blueberry milkshake with touches of cinnamon, chocolate chips, and licorice pieces in Eri's case. After we received our drinks from our waiter Susumu, I finally spoke again here, by the way. I said, "Sable and I have never been here before now as well, as far as I know, Chinatsu. We only came in here just a little while ago because you two were in here when we spotted you around again in our part of Tokyo."

Eri said, "Why didn't you tell me that there are some good-looking guys around here before, Chelsea?"

"I haven't seen any such guys around here, as far as I know, Eri."

"According to our waiter Susumu, it seems that his cousin Terumoto is a real looker," said Eri, in between two sips from her milkshake here.

"I wouldn't know, I think. I don't think I've seen him around anywhere before, Eri."

"According to Susumu, Terumoto seems to know you already at least a little bit, Chelsea."

"I only know of one Terumoto, I believe, right now, Eri."

"And that is?" asked Eri, in a rather half-curious, half-laughing manner.

"Terumoto Serizawa. And I happen to think he's a really annoying pest, for he apparently thinks that I'll eventually come to be his without him having to work hard to win my love and my heart once and for all, Eri," I answered, as our waiter began bringing our often-ordered grilled cheese sandwiches and at least a few other items to us all as needed here, in fact.

"Oh, really?" asked Chinatsu.

"He said that we're meant to be together forever eventually, and I obviously don't think so. Or at least not yet, if I ever will, anyway, Chinatsu," I answered.

Sable considered what I just said, "I think you will be, Chelsea. It may take some time, at least, but I think that you may very well fall for each other sometime in the future."

"You've not met him before, I believe, Sable. You can't be serious, can you be?" I asked, with at least a little bit of a puzzled frown then on my face here, of course. We soon began consuming our respective ordered food items, as silence briefly reigned here between us all, in terms of speaking to each other again.

"I may not have actually met him in a physical sense, of course, Chelsea. But your eyes somehow seem to suggest to me here that you two might very well eventually find yourselves quite often challenged by each other in many ways that even I can't guess fully enough right now in my own life."

"I am not in the hunt for a future husband, much less a future boyfriend, Sable," I said here just as quietly as I then could, by the way. For I really didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to ourselves here, for the obvious enough reasons, of course.

"But you're eventually going to get at least one boyfriend, I'm quite sure, in your life, Chelsea," said Sable. "Why not consider him as a potential such person?"

"Because he's a really annoying pest, that's why. He hasn't normally called me by my real name, whenever we've met, Sable."

"Oh, do tell!" teased Sable.

"He calls me 'Baby,' Sable, and you know I'm no such thing, of course."

"And what do you call him?" asked Chinatsu, intrigued by that fact, by the way.

"Serizawa-san, of course, Chinatsu. What would you expect me to call a pest who I might occasionally have to talk to in my life?"

"Formality reigns with you in terms of most boys, doesn't it, Chelsea?" asked Eri.

"Boys I'm not sufficiently familiar enough with in my life, sure. Boys such as him, for example. And he's not the only one who seems to be at least a little bit interested in me now, either, Eri."

Just then, a series of chimes sounded near the establishment's front door, to mark the entrance of at least one other person into it, if not more. We all soon looked at that specific part of the establishment, and who did we see but the certain pest we were just discussing with each other here? He entered the establishment, and went to the men's restroom elsewhere in it for a few minutes. He was then wearing a mostly navy blue and cardinal red sweater and dark blue jeans over a pair of black business-style shoes when he entered the aforementioned restroom. He spent several minutes in it before then heading to the back of the establishment. It was then just about 4 in the afternoon, local time, when he went to the back of it, for that matter.

I wondered why he did that, until he appeared again in the restaurant area. He eventually had donned an apron with the establishment's main colors on it while he'd been back there, as well as a name badge pinned on the apron near his left shoulder. He soon began taking assorted orders from other patrons in the establishment's restaurant area. Eventually, he came near enough to us on his way to other nearby tables in it, and winked at me as he passed us all here.

"Oh, great, the pest knows that I'm here now!" I muttered.

Sable soon said, even as she looked at him here for at least a few minutes, if not several minutes, "Eri's right. He's good-looking."

"Sable, I really don't need you telling me that the pest is good-looking," I essentially begged of her here.

"Would you have me lie, Chelsea?"

"No, of course not, if it wasn't necessary, Sable."

"Then I must say that he's good-looking in his current get-up, Chelsea."

"Don't judge a book by its cover, Sable."

"Oh, how original is that sort of thing, Baby? I mean the saying, of course, Baby," said the pest as he was on the way back to another part of the establishment.

"It may be rather cliché, but it's still quite accurate here, I think, Serizawa-san."

"And how would you know this, by any chance, Baby?" He stuck his tongue out at me here rather briefly, and rather unexpectedly, in fact. Sable took a bite of a grilled cheese sandwich as she and the other girls watched the pest and I interact here with each other.

"I read a lot, and have seen quite a bit in my life, just for your information, Serizawa-san. And sticking your tongue out at a girl is rather rude, I think."

"Big deal, Baby. No need to get all in an uproar here, I think. Can't you take a little fun every so often, by any chance at all?"

"Not when a cuckoo like you is being childish, Serizawa-san!"

"Oh, ho, ho, ho, ha! Good one, Baby!" He then grinned quite madly at me, as if I'd perhaps just grown a second head on my shoulders and neck here, by the way.

"Look who's talking, Serizawa-san!" I exclaimed, while then beginning to fidget at least a little bit here under his rather-maddening gaze. And I silently thought about squirting him with some mustard then near us all here, for that matter, just for something to do here.

"I'm a cuckoo? Then you're a monkey, perhaps, Baby!"

"Oh, what am I going to do with you, you illusion-seeker? Must you always be so doggoned annoying around me in my life?"

"If I weren't, would you ever lighten up and just go with the flow of life?" asked Serizawa-san. He shot me a teasing, yet challenging, look as he also did a few rather quick and rather brief dancing-type steps here.

"No, I can't do that, Serizawa-san. I'm just not that kind of girl!" I cried out, rather suddenly, without expecting to do that here at all.

"Oh, your heart tells me otherwise, Baby!" he said, as he briefly left us here, so as to continue with his rounds elsewhere in the establishment here, of course.

"Don't call me that, you crazy cuckoo! And it most certainly doesn't!" I shouted, as he was nearly out of sufficient earshot of me, at least as it then seemed to me here.

"So you say, Monkey Baby!" He turned and briefly laughed while also winking rather wackily at me before continuing on his current rounds here. I found that quite infuriating here, of course.

After he was too far away for me to currently yell at him here, Eri soon said, "This should be a rather interesting relationship indeed to follow in the future here, I think, girls."

"We don't have a relationship. Or at least not yet, anyway, if we ever will," I claimed, with somewhat of a struggle now beginning to keep myself from tearing up here, in fact.

"But you certainly have ignited several sparks between each other by now, Chelsea," said Eri.

"What's that have to do with anything, Eri?" I then quite seriously thought that the whole world had just seemed to turn upside-down here, by the way.

"Sparks can often lead to two people falling in love, I believe, Chelsea."

"Sable, help me!" I begged her, in a rather pleading voice indeed, as I began to feel tears welling up in my eyes here.

"Sorry, Chelsea, but Eri's right. Remember what happened to Gary and Samantha back home, in terms of them meeting up with each other about a year or two before we came here? They started out with each other basically where you seem to be with your Serizawa-san now. And look what happened to them both."

"They're married by now, Sable. So what?"

"I think the same thing might be true, in time, for you and your Serizawa-san, Chelsea."

"My Serizawa-san? How in the 200 Solar Systems of Legend can you say that?"

"I've seen several people who were much more antagonistic toward each other when they first met than you now seem to be with your Serizawa-san fall in real true love with each other and maintain a rather close attachment to each other for a long time, Chelsea. At least by what I might consider to be a very long time so far right now in my life, anyway. If they can do that, somehow, at least a few times, then I think it's entirely in the realm of a distinct possibility that you two will eventually be falling in real true love with each other. Whether you each want to or not, I think that you two very well might do so, eventually. And what's more, I think I'll be one of your bridesmaids, if it ever happens that you'll marry him sometime yet in the future."

"I'm not marrying anyone just to be marrying them, Sable."

"I realize that, of course, Chelsea. But you'll eventually marry someone, I'm sure, in the future. No matter who they might be, I think you eventually will, in fact."

Just then, all of a sudden, a rather strange being just crashed through one of the front windows of the establishment, and landed quite near where we were. They quickly looked around at many of the people in the establishment, and soon focused their many eyes on us all here. Before we could react fast enough here, then, the being snaked out two slimy tentacles and grabbed up both Chinatsu and Eri here. Then they exited the establishment just as quickly as they'd crashed through the aforementioned window.

With a single rather brief look between Sable and myself here, we both realized that we'd most likely have to power up in order to hopefully rescue both Chinatsu and Eri from that rather strange being. So we quickly slapped down some money for all our food and drink items, and a brief note, just in case we weren't able to return very soon to the establishment to finish them here well enough. With that done, we quickly left the establishment together, of course.

Just as soon as we then could, we began chasing after the strange being that had snatched Chinatsu and Eri up from where they'd been with us just now. And we also ducked into an empty alley just as soon as we could do it safely enough in a very quick manner indeed, so that we could then quite obviously power up here, of course. Ten seconds after we did so, at most, then, we were both powered up and back to chasing the being currently in question here.

By the time that we were able to get sufficiently close to them both somehow, Ryoko had unexpectedly joined us again as Sailor Lekawa, in fact. She'd actually been present in Azabu Juuban at a music store with at least a few other friends of hers when the being passed by it, so she realized that it was perhaps quite likely that her help would be needed against the being that'd just captured both Chinatsu and Eri. We found out sometime later that Ryoko had told them all that she was going to the nearest ladies' restroom in that store for at least a little while. Which was actually quite accurate enough. But from there, she then powered up just as soon as she could do safely enough, and exited that restroom through a restroom window. Out that very same window she went, in very short order, of course. That done, she soon leapt to the music store's roof, beginning to leap from roof to roof across town as quickly as she could, while also tracking the strange being still holding Chinatsu and Eri with its tentacles. As we both quickly neared where she still was when she actually saw us from about half a block or so away, more or less, she rather suddenly then dropped sort of easily down to the nearby ground, in a five-somersault/three-twist forward-facing dive. She landed rather gently indeed near us, as we got within about five feet or so of her chosen landing location at that time.

She quite naturally surprised us a great deal when she dropped down right in front of us, even as we were running down the necessary streets at full-speed here, of course. Gosedei asked, as Lekawa began running alongside us here, "How did you get here so fast, Lekawa?"

"I saw the Negaverse monster while I was shopping with some of my other friends at a music store around here for a while. And I excused myself to the nearest ladies' restroom in it. That done, I soon powered up and took myself to the available roofs, as I tracked its course by sight. That monster is going to feel my wrath in short enough order, if at all possible, of course, Gosedei."

We three eventually came to where Chinatsu and Eri were now struggling against various restraints that the Negaverse-created monster and at least several dozen good-sized robots of assorted kinds had just tried to secure them both with well enough here. When we did, we wasted absolutely no time at all in engaging all of those enemies of any kind, for all the obvious reasons here. Lekawa soon afterward disposed of a few of them with two quickly-improvised weapons, one of which perhaps largely resembled an Australian boomerang, if not entirely, and one that largely resembled an axe. She also suddenly spotted some nearby canisters of lamp-type oil, several random loose papers and other things, a few pieces of loose wood, and a somewhat-old cigarette lighter. She quickly found an empty enough metal garbage can in the immediate area of where our friends were being held by our newest opponents, and dumped most of those now-collected things into that can just as soon as she could do that easily enough and safely enough here, of course. She then, just as quickly, quite easily lit a fire using the obviously-decades-old cigarette lighter to do that well enough, just before a brand-new red-hot fire quite suddenly roared to considerable life in the necessary can here. With that now done well enough to suit her sufficiently enough, she quickly dunked both the improvised boomerang and the improvised axe one at a time rather briefly into the now-roaring fire here. The boomerang and axe soon were quite enveloped by the fire here, but not consumed or harmed at all by it. She waited just about a minute or two, at the very most, to remove them each from that fire, once she'd dropped them each into that can the rather red-hot fire was then in here, quite naturally enough.

Seeing as she could obviously now control fire to at least some degree, then, she was quite able to bring both of her hands rather rapidly back down into the can to retrieve the now-flaming boomerang and axe from it well enough. Lekawa quickly withdrew those same items from it, and then began whaling on several of the robots quite a bit with them both, of course. Several of the robots were destroyed by her with them not too much later, quite naturally enough. But not all of them, just the same.

She also somehow managed to free both Eri and Chinatsu from half of each of their current restraints here. Even as Hatargo, Occasero, Tunka, and two others we couldn't currently identify here actually happened to join the now-happening fight on our side of things as well. The still-unidentified two others here to us all were yet-unknown to at least me, at least as currently-apparent fighting allies of ours here, if not in any other ways whatsoever. But that wouldn't always be the case, most likely, both for me and for various others sometime in the future. Though none of us yet knew that here sufficiently well enough, by the way, in our respective mortal lives. They were both currently in civilian-style clothing, but not entirely so, due to the presence of two full-masks on their face, for that matter. They then both fought our still-many opponents using whatever fighting techniques they could think of and whatever items they could possibly use against them well enough here, by the way.

The robots had at least some, if not a lot of, trouble dealing with those two other people. For they were both quite unpredictable for the robots' apparently-current programmed fighting methods here. And they both seemed to be at least somewhat well-trained in assorted martial arts styles, if I wasn't somehow too mistaken here about either of them or both of them, for that matter. Among those assorted styles that they were both apparently at least a little familiar with, if not quite familiar with, seemed to be karate, ninjitsu, and swordplay, at least. That was considering just how well they were presently fighting against several of the still-present robots here, people. Which was quite well indeed, by the way, people. Many of those very same robots soon were damaged beyond a sufficient enough ability to be repaired easily enough somehow, if they weren't totally destroyed, by those two young men, in fact.

The rest of us continued to fight against the rest of our still-many Negaverse-affiliated opponents here, of course. Eventually, we were somehow able to finish freeing both Chinatsu and Eri from all their current restraints here. When we did so well enough, Occasero rather suddenly had Gosedei and I each hand them one pen and one watch to them, without even having to say just why we had to do that here to us both, for that matter. Chinatsu and Eri immediately took the aforementioned items from us both here, as needed and/or desired, quite naturally enough. Chinatsu took the ones with a tree-type symbol on each of them, and Eri the ones with the stylized heart-type symbols on each of them. And they both actually said, at the exact same time, in fact, "It's most definitely the time for some real payback now. Nobody ever snatches me away from my food, my drinks, and/or my friends without a good enough reason, and gets away with it sufficiently well without facing the consequences of doing so here, somehow." Both girls were now very upset indeed, and their current facial expressions really showed it here as well.

I told Gosedei to try to make a thick enough fog briefly here, somehow. And she soon said, "I'll see what I can do here, of course, Sailor Oshimuke."

Fifteen seconds later, she somehow managed to create a thick enough fog around Chinatsu and Eri here, so that they'd hopefully be hidden well enough from all the necessary beings' views at least long enough for them both to power up into their new Scout states, whatever they might be here. Chinatsu stood about ten feet away from each of us, more or less, as we three then formed a triangle around Sailor Gosedei here. I was at one of the triangle's vertexes, Chinatsu was at a second, and Eri was at the third, as we all still stood within the fog that was hiding us all right now.

Chinatsu briefly looked at her new pen and watch, and then suddenly reached into a hip pocket of her current skirt here. She took out a somewhat small disk that was just about the size of a quarter, more or less, before quickly donning her watch, and traced the disk's actual perimeter with the pen, even as she held the disk in the air briefly and hollered out the English words, "Anago Refuge Power!" As soon as she then did so here, a multi-colored pillar of light quickly shrouded her quite completely from the view of anyone mortal who might normally be able to see, hear, or detect certain things within a certain range well enough, somehow.

She remained quite completely hidden in all sufficiently mortal ways from view for at least a minute, perhaps, but not for more than about two minutes or so, more or less. When she then became sufficiently visible again to anyone mortal's view of any possible kind at all here, she was in her brand-new Sailor Anago fighting uniform, of course. This brand-new uniform of hers began with a gold tiara on her forehead, and this tiara had a brown, blue, and green stone at its base. She had no earrings of any kind. A mostly brown choker with wheels and trees on it was present around her neck about halfway between her jaw and her shoulders. Her mostly brown sailor-style collar had wheels inside green lines on it. A never-before-seen necklace with beads and a tree-like pendant was also around her neck at its base. She had a mostly brown front bow and a mostly blue and green back bow, by the way. Her uniform's blouse was mostly green with brown puffed shoulders. A mostly green sash then ran from about her left shoulder to her right hip, and it had various holders for assorted items behind it. Items such as throwing stars and/or coins, for example. She had a mostly green belt around her waist. Her mostly brown pleated knee-length skirt had green decorations near its waist and hem. Under the skirt, she also wore a pair of mostly blue leggings. A sword and a scabbard hung from her left hip, where possible. Her new boots were mostly brown knee-length boots with mostly blue laces and straight edges. On her arms, she wore white elbow-length gloves, and three-colored armbands were quite naturally also at each of her elbows here. Her boots completed her current look here, at least from what just Gosedei, Eri, and I could then tell here well enough, in fact.

After she powered up, Eri looked briefly at her own pen and watch. She then slapped her new watch on her own wrist in very short order. Then she held her new pen to her lips briefly, kissing the top of it where the mostly pink stylized heart-type symbol ended at the top of the pen. That done, she suddenly shouted out, "Silea Sweetheart Power!"

Almost immediately after she said those three words, she was totally shrouded in a mostly pink, red, and white pillar of light, by the way. She remained completely hidden from anyone's view here for about a minute or so, more or less. When she began to appear to our views again, we soon saw she had on a gold tiara with a pink, red, and white stone at its base. On her ears were stylized heart-shaped clip-on earrings. A red choker with red hearts and gold stars inside white lines on it was around her neck in the most appropriate location, quite naturally enough. Her sailor-style collar was mostly pink with somewhat asymmetrical red hearts and gold stars inside white lines where necessary for it here. Around her neck, where appropriate, she then had on a red, white, and pink beaded necklace with an attached pendant in the basic shape of a stylized heart. Her front bow was mostly pink, while her back bow was mostly read. Her uniform's blouse had pink and red regular shoulders, for a simple reason that would be at least a little bit evident here in just a moment or two, at most. That simple reason was that she had on some mostly pink vest-like armor with matching puffed shoulders for herself over her uniform's blouse here. A red, pink, and white chain-like belt was around her waist, above a mostly pink miniskirt with red and white decorations that was just a little bit longer than Gosedei's skirt length, but not too much longer than that, in actual reality. A sword and scabbard hung from her belt above her left hip as well. Her current footwear was a pair of mostly pink pumps with red and white decorations on them. Her elbow-length gloves had several stars and hearts not only present on them both, but the gloves' cuffs also were cut in the approximate shapes of hearts and stars where possible. Her armbands were pink, and they were each located about halfway between her elbows and shoulders for each arm, with a few small stars and hearts on them, for that matter. Her hair currently remained nearly as it normally was, at least in terms of its normal lengths for various areas of it. But it also somehow became at least a little prehensile here, while it was at it during her transformation process. It could possibly even grow at least a little bit longer whenever she was in her Scout state of being in the future, as well. Just as soon as she became fully visible here, then, she had Gosedei drop the fog that was currently around us all.

She did this so that everyone could eventually see the four of us here again well enough, of course. As soon as Gosedei did so, then, she and Anago joined the fight here, for that matter, with little or no introduction or delay as they both did so. Silea attacked first, and she shouted out, while taking off her belt here, "Silea Romance Whip!" It grew almost instantly in her hands as she still held it, and as soon as she thought it was long enough for her at the current time, she whipped it at several of the robots near enough to her here. Some of those eight robots she'd then rather suddenly indeed whipped it at here couldn't somehow dodge it quite fast enough. And her new belt-like whip often quickly severed their heads from their respective shoulders, causing them to rather rapidly malfunction, and to almost instantly cease any activity at all of any possible kind or kinds here, in fact.

Even as Silea's new whip was still swinging toward several of those robots here, Anago quickly reached just behind her sash with her right hand, and randomly took out some appropriately-sized throwing stars from holders behind it. She took four stars at once between each of her fingers and her thumb on her right hand, and pitched them in just one single motion at four various robots here. With that now done well enough to suit her sufficiently enough here, she drew her sword. And she soon took out several other similar enough robots that were currently fighting against Lekawa and Occasero here with it, in the specific way that most sword-wielders might normally take out their opponents in a battle, if at all possible.

She then cleared a path for Gosedei to run in between where she was battling near us to just about where Tunka was now battling still other robots alongside Hatargo about half a block away, at most, in very short order indeed, in fact. Anago did this by using her rather elaborately-etched new sword to do that here. And Gosedei somehow took absolutely no hits at all from any of our current Negaverse-affiliated opponents as she headed towards Sentinel Tunka's current position, for that matter.

After Gosedei basically reached Tunka's current position in the battle's area well enough here, Anago then switched her sword to her left hand long enough to withdraw at least a few small coin-like disks from still other holders behind her sash. She then very briefly took the hilt off her sword, somehow, and quickly inserted said disks into a tube of sorts inside her sword's blade, for some yet-unknown reason, here. After those disks had all dropped quite well enough into that tube of sorts, she quickly put the hilt back onto her sword, so that the sword was again whole here, of course. That done, she put her sword back in her right hand again, and prepared to launch a new attack with her sword. It was an attack which wouldn't necessarily always require the use of her own sword for her to somehow be able to ever launch it at any particular time or times during future Scout-type battles of hers. But it was still an attack which might often be at least a bit more effective for her if and whenever she did actually use it in the execution of said attack for herself than if she didn't at such a time or at such times, for that matter.

She looked at our remaining 30 or so Negaverse-associated enemies, and then called out to us all, "Get behind me just as quickly as you all can do so here, Scouts and friends, if at all possible, please! Or do try to all find some safe enough places to hide, if you can't all do that here well enough!" We all then did so in very short order, of course. Even the various civilians who could move well enough here did so. And they even pulled still others that actually couldn't do so out of the immediate area as well, if at all possible. When everyone who could get sufficiently behind enough cover, or behind Anago, as the current situation then permitted us all to do so here, somehow did so, Anago briefly looked at several of our nearby opponents. She did this here just before she shouted, and stabbed her new sword several times rather quickly indeed into the nearby ground, in certain appropriate enough directions, "Anago Fossilizing Quake!" Her sword began glowing almost immediately after she withdrew it from the nearby ground the last time. And she swung it in a fairly wide arc from the scabbard on her left side to her right side while facing completely towards our remaining current opponents here, causing several large boulders surrounded by green, brown, and blue light to materialize suddenly in front of her and then shoot without any warning at all towards those remaining foes of ours. As her sword passed her right side, no more than just a few seconds later, she easily reached back with her left hand and soon switched her sword to that same hand, which continued taking it just as easily around behind herself. While it was still doing so, then, she quickly raised her now-empty right hand to wave very briefly at Silea, who was perched on top of a nearby telephone pole behind her, so that Silea knew that it was time for her to unleash another one of her "Silea Romance Whip!" attacks towards even more of our remaining opponents here.

Silea complied immediately upon her seeing of Anago's rather brief wave here. And she quickly took out even more of our current enemies with her new whip, even as they were still often being bombarded by Anago's just-launched new attack, in fact. Gosedei took out a few others with her own attack, and I did the same with more of my "Bible Recitation" attacks, as well. Tunka helped out with more of his roses and quills, wherever and whenever possible. Occasero and Hatargo each took out still others in whatever ways they then could, for that matter. Lekawa soon took out even more with her own boomerang-like and axe-like attacks, every so often. And she did this just before we all finally reduced our remaining current opposition here to just the Negaverse-associated monster who'd been basically controlling the many robots that we'd all just been fighting around this general area of Tokyo.

It took us all at least another ten minutes, however, to somehow manage to trap that very same monster well enough inside not only one of Gosedei's beaker-like traps, but also inside one of Lekawa's Cauldrons, for sheer safety here, considering the rather great difficulty that we'd already had to fight against in this current battle because of having to knock out at least 150 to 170 Negaverse-created robots, as we later were able to find out, in fact. Anago was able to help out at least a bit against the monster with her new attack, and Silea helped out not only with her whip, but with her hair, for that matter. Tunka helped out by pinning the monster to one specific small area with many of his various roses and the usually-accompanying quills here, while Occasero dropped the necessary corks into the appropriate holes for Gosedei and Lekawa's traps here, and while Hatargo helped out by letting Tunka briefly ride him here, as the need then arose for Tunka to do so here. When the monster was trapped well enough to guarantee their permanent demise in very short order, I told Gosedei, Tunka, Hatargo, Occasero, Anago, and Silea to get everyone else out of the area as quickly as they possibly could here, but not Lekawa. For she'd still be needed here for at least a few more moments in order for us to make sure that was actually going to be the case once and for all, of course.

Everyone else in the battle's general area then vacated it as quickly and as easily as they then could. And they took everyone else out of it besides Lekawa, the last Negaverse-affiliated monster still present and alive here, and myself, for all the obvious reasons here. When they'd all done so at least well enough to suit both Lekawa and myself to a sufficient enough degree here, Lekawa and I then launched our respective finishing attacks. The Negaverse-created monster and the two traps that it was then quite securely trapped in were quickly destroyed as needed here, of course. Once they were, beyond any sufficiently possible shadow of a reasonable enough doubt whatsoever, then, both Lekawa and I departed the battle's scene in very short order, quite naturally enough. Virtually all the previously-gained life energies that our most recent opponents had just gathered from many people, including ourselves, in a few cases, soon returned whole, or nearly whole, to their respective owners, as a matter of fact.

We each sneaked into separate nearby alleys, when possible, and powered down again, as our current situation then allowed us to do so here. Ryoko powered down first, just before 6:45 pm, local time. I saw her duck into one powered-up, and come out of that one powered-down, about eighty seconds before I myself ducked into another and did the same thing, in fact. I powered down right at 6:45 pm, local time, for that matter, people. Ryoko then went right back to her friends elsewhere in Azabu Juuban, as we all later learned, the next time that we were all together for a long enough time in our respective lives.

Not too much later, then, I returned to the very same establishment that I'd earlier been in with Chinatsu, Eri, and Sable, by the way. They were already waiting for me there, as Susumu was then bringing back our remaining food and drink items back to us from where they'd been temporarily stored elsewhere in the establishment while we'd been away from it, for the obvious reasons. It was 6:55 pm, local time, when I returned there, and Sable was talking about horses with Susumu, as I walked back into the establishment and went right back to my and Sable's earlier table in it.

It took us about another fifteen minutes or so for us to all finish what was left of our food and drink items from when we'd quite unexpectedly been interrupted earlier. But we all did so well enough by 7:15 pm, local time, in fact, people. After we all finished those various items of ours that we'd ordered earlier, we all briefly went to the nearest ladies' restroom, and used the facilities there as needed, of course. After we all did so at least well enough to suit us all enough here, then, we all soon parted from each other, where possible, for all the obvious reasons.

We finally arrived back at our family's residence again by 7:30 pm, local time, at the very latest. And that was only after we first had to do at least a little bit of running here, for that matter. For we'd had a good amount of ground that we had to cover between our residence and that particular establishment where we'd earlier encountered Chinatsu and Eri rather unexpectedly indeed.

Father and Mother were obviously not very happy that we'd spent most of the day away from home, but we told them that we rather unexpectedly encountered Chinatsu and Eri at a nearby establishment elsewhere in Azabu Juuban while we'd been walking with each other. And we told them whatever we could tell them safely enough about what happened after that. Nothing that we couldn't tell them about such things, of course, but only whatever we then could. They weren't very happy that we were unexpectedly caught up in another alien-related fight, quite naturally enough. But they were still quite glad that we tried to help out Chinatsu and Eri and various others as best as we then could, just the same. Though they didn't know everything, they hoped that we wouldn't often find ourselves in such situations in the future, as well, for that matter.

They soon let us go right to our bedroom. And we spent most, if not all, of the time between 7:45 and 9:30 in our shared bedroom just unwinding as best as we both possibly could then do so here from the many events of the battle we'd just been part of here. Sable took up her quilting supplies again within ten minutes of us arriving back in our room with each other. She promptly went right back to work on the quilt from where she'd last left off with it, in fact.

As for me, I put a classical music-type cassette into a radio/cassette/CD player, and turned it on here. This cassette was one with music from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and only him on it. At least in terms of the composer of it, anyway. The musicians were from the Salzburg Metropolitan Opera, as well. And the tape had been recorded the year I was born, for that matter. My mother had bought it on a whim during her and my father's second honeymoon in the Scottish city of Inverness and in other places. However, the tape had been bought in Inverness, just the same.

As I listened to the tape, I thought about my first seven battles as Sailor Oshimuke for a little while, before suddenly walking over to a nearby bookshelf and taking one of the often-read books off it to read as well. I then walked over to my bed, slipped off my shoes, and climbed on top of my bed. I then lay primarily, though not entirely, on my stomach and opened a well-read copy of "Robinson Crusoe." I found where I'd earlier left a bookmark in it, and resumed reading it from that point in time, in fact. I actually resumed reading from just before the end of the second chapter, more or less, by the way. I basically read it in relative from about 7:50 pm or so to about 9:20 pm or so, local time, for that matter, while I was at it here. Even while my classical music tape played, I still generally did so, except when I briefly had to get up and turn it over here so that the other side of it could play as well.

I then read up until about the end of the third chapter, more or less, when that particular time arrived for us both in our room here. Once it did, or shortly thereafter, I put my current bookmark back into "Robinson Crusoe," and returned that novel to its proper place in the applicable bookshelf. I also turned off my tape player here, and got ready for supper, in very short order, for that matter. Sable put away her quilting supplies, and also got ready for supper with the rest of our immediate family here, of course.

We had supper with our parents and siblings for about half an hour or so, and then we were allowed to head back to our room again for the rest of the night, if we so desired to be there for the rest of it. Which, in fact, we both really did.

It was about 10:10 at night when we both returned to our room for the rest of the night. After we both did that well enough to suit each of us here enough, then, we decided to talk to each other for a while. Sable soon asked, "Chelsea, why are you so opposed to the idea of perhaps being with Serizawa-san in the future? Besides the fact that he calls you "Baby," of course?"

"Because he doesn't seem like my kind of guy, Sable. He seems to be quite determined that I will be his, and only his, once and for all, without even apparently trying at all to win my heart and love first. Among other things, I suppose. Granted, he may be good-looking, but looks aren't necessarily everything. I'm not much to look at, I believe."

"Says who?"

"I don't think that I am much to look at. Granted, I may be quite different than most of the girls around here, but I still don't think that I'm really much to look at. I may also be filled-out at least a little bit more than many girls my age might be, but that doesn't necessarily mean that I'm good-looking as well, does it?"

"I think you're selling yourself short. And I don't think that I've ever known a guy who wants a girl to be really small or light in her life, Chelsea. And I think you still have at least a little more growing to do in your own life. You may be about average in terms of your current height or weight, I believe. I don't think you'll always be just about 5'2" and about 115 pounds. I think you'll eventually be somewhere around 5'6" and 130 or so pounds by the time you finish high school, at the very least, in either area, if not both of them."

Sable then reached for her main basket of patches, and looked through it for a few minutes, before continuing to speak to me here. She soon took out two patches that I'd not yet seen before, and began to consider where to place them elsewhere on the quilt. For she'd already finished sewing the fifth and sixth patches onto it some length of time earlier in the night while I'd actually been listening to Mozart and reading "Robinson Crusoe," by the way.

As she considered where to place those next two patches on the quilt's top surface here, she then said, "Chelsea, you are rather good-looking, as far as I can currently tell in my life. In fact, I think you're looking much better than you used to look before you rather suddenly started to fight evil earlier this month. I don't think I've ever seen you look quite as good as you've generally looked the last three or four weeks."

"That may be so, Sable, but I don't like having to fight evil here, just the same," I said, as I shot a rather curious look or two towards her and the two patches then in her hands as she sat in the chair that she most often would quilt in, whenever possible. "Just who are those two patches meant to represent for our fighting group, if I might actually ask you this here, Sable?"

"I'm not quite sure, at the moment, Chelsea. But according to a brand-new mental vision I had while you were still reading and listening to music earlier, they're meant to represent two more Sentinels who both will become part of our fighting group in very short order. Like maybe sometime in the next week or two, at most, if I'm not too mistaken here about such things. And I think you've actually met them before at least once in their respective civilian states, whatever they might each be. Perhaps even serious rivals for your affection with Serizawa-san, for that matter here." She eventually showed me a half-sun design on one patch that was mostly, though not entirely, in gold, black, and orange, and a stylized thunderbolt on top of a disk design on the other patch.

The half-sun was mostly gold with a black horizon line and half-circle and three orange lines 45 degrees apart on a mostly yellow background. Around the half-sun design was a mostly red circular border like the one that was present on the patch that represented Sailor Gosedei for our fighting group. But instead of the word "Monsoon" being on it, there was the English word "Illumination" in yellow with some orange and black trim where possible for its letters, in actual reality, here. Also on that circular border were two kanji representing that English word, for that matter. A letter wasn't yet present on the patch to represent the world or star that this Sentinel would most likely represent for our group, either. But it'd eventually be sewn onto it once Sable knew just what letter to put there for it, no doubt.

As for the patch with the stylized thunderbolt on it, the thunderbolt was primarily green with bronze trim. While the disk that it was on was cobalt blue with silver trim where the thunderbolt or its associated trim wasn't actually present for it here. The thunderbolt had three strokes somewhat diagonally down, and two horizontal strokes directly to the left as one might normally wear it on their personal attire whenever it might possibly appear on it at all. The two horizontal strokes would appear to go to the typical observer's right, if they were facing towards the thunderbolt's patch instead of facing in the same basic direction that the quilt's top surface would normally be facing whenever displayed to anyone or anything at all, for that matter. On top of that thunderbolt, then, the single English word "Strength" followed its general course from top to bottom, as best as it then could here, in some kind of cartoon-like font. Like with the half-sun's patch, the thunderbolt's patch didn't yet have a particular letter on it to stand for the necessary world or star that its Sentinel would hail from here with our group, for all the obvious reasons, of course.

I asked, "Where and when do you think they'll possibly join our group, then, Sable?"

"Kyoto, maybe, and perhaps even next weekend? I'm not really sure about that sort of thing just yet, though, for your information, Chelsea."

"Why there, if at all?"

"I really don't know just yet, Chelsea. But I expect that I'll know whether that's the case before too much longer, just the same, of course." She shot me a rather thoughtful look as she said that here, in fact.

"It might be nice to have at least one or two more males in the group, come to think of it. But I really wonder why Tunka hasn't been easy to identify just yet in our battles."

"Perhaps that's for all our safeties, Chelsea. If we knew his identity, or he knew ours, then it might make things a whole lot more dangerous for us all. Especially if our enemies find out whatever we might know about each other, whatever that thing or those things might possibly be at all, somehow, of course."

"Do you have any ideas who he might be?" I then reached into a drawer for a pen and a pad of paper here to briefly write down some things.

"I'm beginning to have at least a few potential suspicions about who he might be, but nothing I can be sufficiently sure of at the present time. So I can't say just who he might actually be in his civilian state of being, Chelsea, even though that's actually the case for me here."

"Do you think he knows just who any of us actually are in our civilian states of being?" I uncapped the pen, and sat down at my desk, as I still looked at her here a little bit.

"I really couldn't say. He may claim he's seen you with him in the future. That may be true, but he could also be trying to trick you into revealing just who you might be to him eventually, you know."

"I really hope that Sentinel Tunka isn't the pest whenever he's in his civilian state of being, of course."

"I don't think that he is, Chelsea."

"I would be so upset, I think, if Sentinel Tunka ever turned out to be Serizawa-san, Sable."

"Maybe so. But what if he was?"

"Then I guess that I'd have to accept it, no matter how much I might prefer otherwise, Sable. I really hope that he isn't Serizawa-san. For I just happen to think Sentinel Tunka is rather intelligent, among other things, I really have to admit to you here." I soon wrote down several civilian names and several Scout and/or Sentinel names. Starting with my own applicable names here, of course. I started the list with my Scout and my civilian names, with the former name before the latter, by the way, and added certain other names as I then needed to do just that here. Supposing I somehow already knew them by now, quite obviously enough. I soon put the two words "Sentinel Tunka" under my own Scout name. But I didn't actually write anything for his civilian name here, for I didn't yet know it well enough to put it on the list as well.

"How so, if I might ask, Chelsea?"

"He has often distracted opponents of mine long enough for me to get good enough shots in on them, somehow, if not always. And he generally knows just where to throw his various roses and quills during a typical battle, as far as I've seen of him so far in such situations." I wrote Sailor Gosedei and Sable Hunter on the third line, as I said those things here.

"I see. And do you expect that'll often be the case for him and you in our future battles?"

"For some yet-unknown reason, I believe I do, in fact, Sable." Sailor Lekawa and Ryoko Nakane soon were on the growing list here.

"Then just perhaps it might prove to be the case for you both."

"Who do you think you're often going to be paired up with in battle later on?"

"Occasero, and at least one or two others. Maybe not always with you now, seeing as we now have five Scouts and at least one Sentinel, in the group now. Not to mention, of course, Occasero and Hatargo, as well, for that matter, Chelsea."

As I then added two more Scout names and two more civilian names to the necessarily growing list here, I said, "You're quite certain that the next two members of our group will be male, I believe, if I understand you well enough here, Sable."

"Yes, I'm really quite sure about that being the case for us all here, in due time, whenever necessary, Chelsea. I'd even stake my transforming item on it, as a matter of fact."

"I see. And after them, then just who might be next?"

"Two other young women I can't quite make out well enough in my dreams just yet, at least."

"Then that'd make the total membership of the group ten people, Sable, with seven of those ten people being girls. Which, I believe, is the total number of watches that we bought a while ago."

"Yes, I do believe that's correct, Chelsea. Which means that if, hypothetically speaking, we were all wanting to pair up with each other somehow in a romantic sense and we were somehow old enough to do so, four or us wouldn't have someone to date at that particular time. Or at least not until the group was able to gain enough male members to help balance things out in it well enough, of course.."

"I wonder what worlds or stars those Sentinels might represent for our group, if they ever were able to join it well enough, somehow, Sable."

"I really don't know just yet," said Sable, as she sewed the top sides of the next two patches right under the bottom edges of my and Sentinel Tunka's own patches on the quilt's top surface. After they were both secured well enough to it, then, she quite quickly put away all of her current quilting supplies here, and went to bed. It was nearly 11 when she did so totally. She was quite soundly asleep again in her own bed by 11 pm local time, at the very latest. I watched her sleep for about half an hour, while I periodically worked on a few writing-related things. Whether or not they were actually school-related, I still did so here, for at least a little while, if not a long while. I finally decided to hit the sack, so to speak, as well, and I started to put away all the things I then had out that needed to be put away by 11:45 pm local time.

I had all those things taken care of as needed by 11:50. No matter what they actually were, I still had them all taken care of as needed by that very same time here. And I was rather silently lying on my back in my own bed again by no later than local midnight, in any case at all, here. By 12:15 in the early morning of Sunday, October 28, 2007, at the very latest, I was myself quite soundly asleep again in it, and quite lost in any of the countless lands of dreams that might or might not actually exist anywhere in the Universe, for that matter, people. At least in a manner of speaking, anyway. And so I slept, not likely to awake again in my bed for at least another 6 or so hours or so here, for all the obvious reasons, of course.

* * *

Chapter Seven will follow as soon as I can finish writing it well enough, people. Enough said. The Universal Storyteller out. 


End file.
